


A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong… (Not Love, Definitely)

by numberonemilkbread



Category: Haikyuu!!, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Gryffindor!Iwaizumi, Love Confessions, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Pining, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Slow Burn, Slytherin!Oikawa, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:09:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29677509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/numberonemilkbread/pseuds/numberonemilkbread
Summary: “Then why the hell is your funky cologne the only thing I’m smelling?”“I don’t know! Why am I only smelling your dirty grassy smell then?”When Iwaizumi and Oikawa start off as sworn enemies in their first year, they definitely did not foresee what would happen after a shared detention experience, Armortentia potion confusion, and the bad decision to participate in Kuroo’s party game.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 19
Kudos: 131
Collections: Haikyuu Big Bang 2020





	A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong… (Not Love, Definitely)

**Author's Note:**

> After 5 months, what was meant to be a <5k story has finally matured into a 28k+ monster. It’s been a pleasure participating in my very first Big Bang!
> 
> A **huge** thank you to the best beta reader, [V](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vwritesaus), for being so supportive and helpful, and also to the insanely talented [Hufuu](https://twitter.com/hufuu12) for her amazing art, which you can find [here](https://twitter.com/numberonemilkb2/status/1364604322625978375)!
> 
> Notes:  
> ☞ This work is separate from my pre-existing [Iwaoi Hogwarts AU](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860697)  
> ☞ Slight spoilers for _Alien_ and _Godzilla_!  
> ☞ The formatting's kinda weird for some reason sorry :(

_1st Year_

The countryside morphs into a blur as the Hogwarts Express travels steadily on the train tracks, leaving Iwaizumi staring at a smattering of greens and browns and his own reflection in the window.

He still can’t quite believe that _this_ is happening— that he’s leaving his old school, his parents, his volleyball team— to attend the magical school that his mother had described to him in bedtime stories when he was young. He still remembers the details of the grand and magical Great Hall with the four tables filled with all sorts of delicacies, the boisterous and lively atmosphere of Quidditch matches, the fascinating and thrilling spells taught during classes… It feels just as surreal as it did when he received the acceptance letter, but much more real now as the train moves closer to what was once only an imaginary place.

Iwaizumi wonders about the classes he’ll take (Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures sound particularly exciting), the people he’ll meet, and most importantly, which house he’ll be sorted into. His mother had been in Ravenclaw, the house known for intelligence and wisdom, but Iwaizumi doesn’t think he’s particularly smart _or_ wise. Truth be told, he isn’t sure if he belongs to any of the four houses—

A knock on the door jolts him out of his thoughts, and he watches as a boy with a good-natured face pokes his head in.

“Hey, can we sit here? The other compartments are full,” the boy says with a sheepish smile, a tuft of silver hair peeking from behind his shoulder.

“Sure,” Iwaizumi answers, gesturing to the seats across from him. The boy and his companion flop down onto the bench.

“I’m Daichi, and this is Suga,” Daichi introduces, and the silver-haired boy sitting next to him waves at Iwaizumi with a dazzling grin on his face.

“I’m Iwaizumi. Did you two come together?” Iwaizumi asks, noticing the way they sit comfortably against each other, completely unlike two people who’ve just met on the platform or train.

Suga casts a glance at Daichi before responding with, “Yep! Daichi and I have actually been friends since we were five.”

“Wow. That must’ve been fun,” Iwaizumi remarks, wondering what it would be like if he also had a childhood friend to share this experience with.

“Yeah, it was. Especially when Suga neglected to tell me about his magical blood and I found out when I walked in on his bed making _itself_.”

Suga grins at the mention of the memory. “That was hilarious! You should have seen his face. I think he was one step away from a heart attack.”

“You’re such a great friend, Suga,” Daichi deadpans, and the other boy merely shakes his head.

“Come on, Daichi, you know I couldn’t tell you I’m a wizard when both your parents are muggles. My mother said I would get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry, Daichi,” Iwaizumi comforts. “My father found out about my mother’s magical blood when she left a pair of screaming socks in his room and forgot about them. Pretty sure my father thought the room was possessed.”

The other two boys burst into laughter, and Iwaizumi grins, his nerves slowly fading away as he becomes more comfortable with Daichi and Suga.

The three boys continue conversing about their families, which transitions into their school life, which leads to volleyball. Iwaizumi learns that Daichi’s a muggle-born who went to the same school as Suga and that they played on the school team as wing spiker and setter respectively. He also learns that Suga’s a pureblood whose parents both work at the Ministry of Magic but don’t hold the same superior mindset like many of the other purebloods, so they chose to send their son to a muggle school until he became old enough for Hogwarts.

Iwaizumi thinks that this—chatting with his new friends and trading chocolate frog cards—is a great start to his seven-year journey.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

A steady flow of chatter and exclaims of delight fill the Great Hall as the Headmaster finishes his speech and overflowing plates of food materialize on the tables.

Iwaizumi finds himself seated with the other Gryffindor first-years, mirroring their surprised expressions on his own face. The owlish boy with spiky salt-and-pepper hair on Iwaizumi’s left (Bokuto?) immediately grabs at the chicken legs and tears off a large chunk, chewing happily with a leg in each hand. Across from him, Daichi is acting more civilized, carefully scooping some potatoes onto his plate before picking up his fork. Iwaizumi is helping himself to some pork chops when Daichi speaks up.

“Bokuto, was it?”

The boy stops munching and peers at Daichi with surprisingly huge eyes lined with yellow specks. Iwaizumi’s wondering if they are natural when the boy nods his head vigorously and asks for Daichi’s name in return.

“And that’s Iwaizumi.”

At the sound of his name, Iwaizumi cracks a slight smile while Bokuto grins like he’s just won the jackpot. Daichi’s the one to mostly carry the conversation, which is fine by Iwaizumi since he’s free to sample every dish in his vicinity.

“… so your mother’s a muggle?”

“Yep! She works at a wildlife rehabilitation center specializing in owls!” Bokuto answers after a sip of pumpkin juice. Iwaizumi tries not to snicker.

“What does your father do then?” Daichi questions, slicing into a piece of chicken.

“Oh, he’s a Quidditch player for the Japanese team!”

Iwaizumi swears every person within hearing range immediately swivels their head towards Bokuto. Before any autographs or meeting requests can be made, however, a ruckus diverts their attention.

At a nearby table, a flock of girls squeal at something, many of them erupting into shrieks and jumping up and down in excitement. Iwaizumi spots the cause of all this commotion sitting casually with his back towards the table, grinning proudly at whatever he’s just said.

“Who’s that?” Iwaizumi asks as he stares at the Slytherin table. He notes with surprise that the girls forming the circle aren’t just from Slytherin—they’re from other houses too, even _Gryffindor_ , despite the rumored rivalry between the two houses.

“Huh, I think that’s the guy the girls were talking about on the train,” Daichi comments, nudging Iwaizumi’s arm.

“What? When?”

“When Suga went to the bathroom. Remember?” Iwaizumi stares blankly at Daichi’s face, having no recollection of such moment. “There was a group of girls that whispered about some new boy looking like a model? And there was such a long line of them at the end of the train ride, they clogged up the hallway and nobody could get out of their compartments?”

“Ohhh, _this_ is what those girls were trying to look at?” Iwaizumi questions, not bothering to hide his disbelief. He supposes the guy isn’t bad-looking, but something about that smile seems fake and overly sweet. It just doesn’t sit right.

“That is Oikawa Tooru.”

Iwaizumi looks up in surprise at the boy on his right who just spoke, uttering his first words of the night. Daichi looks equally startled.

“His mother is a potions maker. Quite a well-known one, actually, since she’s the great-great-granddaughter of the man who invented Veritaserum. And his father is a renowned Auror,” the boy continues to tell them.

“Umm, thank you…” Daichi trails off, a subtle inquiry of the boy’s name.

“Ushijima Wakatoshi,” the boy replies in the same flat tone. “Oikawa is a distant cousin of mine.”

Daichi opens his mouth, about to speak again, but a commotion at the end of the table has everyone whipping their heads around. A girl with a blond bob cut stands triumphantly on the bench, laughing as the boy opposite from her starts coughing and vomiting what seems to be at least ten goblets of pumpkin soup.

“ _Saeko_ , not again,” someone mutters from behind Iwaizumi.

Daichi shoots Iwaizumi an alarmed look. “People sure are… interesting here.”

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi agrees, about to take a sip out of his goblet before eyeing the pumpkin juice and setting it back down. He glances behind him as one of the professors starts yelling at the students to sit down and behave, realizing that the crowd of fangirls at the Slytherin table has somehow managed to grow even larger. “How on earth is that guy attracting all these girls? Isn’t he also a first-year?”

“Well, his parents _are_ famous,” Daichi answers, reminding Iwaizumi of Ushijima’s words.

Bokuto cuts into the conversation, still stuffing his face eagerly. “Maybe you should ask him for his secret for getting girls!”

“As if I’d ever talk to someone like him,” Iwaizumi scoffs, eyebrows furrowed in distaste as he gives the cheery Slytherin one last look.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“I’m so sorry!” Iwaizumi apologizes as he comes to a stop at the door of the Potions classroom. He’d gotten lost on the ever-changing staircases when he tried to make his way down here, a misfortune further amplified by the absence of his new friends Daichi and Bokuto. Iwaizumi had told them to go ahead first when he couldn’t find his cauldron, which he now stares at menacingly as he heaves it onto the desk and perches onto the empty stool next to Daichi.

“How nice of you to join us, Iwaizumi-kun,” the professor says in a way that implies anything but. Iwaizumi doesn’t even have time to be annoyed at the insensitivity (it’s his first day of classes and this place is _huge_ ) because he’s suddenly bombarded with something else.

“Tell me, Iwaizumi-kun, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Heat starts flooding Iwaizumi’s neck because he has _no_ idea what either of those things are.

_Asphodel’s probably some plant, but what the hell is a wormwood? And why the hell does the professor expect him to know this when it’s his first class?_

He feels everybody’s eyes on him, some with sympathy, others with relief that they’re not the ones picked. And there’s also the aura of arrogance residing on the other side of the room where the Slytherins sit.

Iwaizumi stubbornly ignores that last one and simply answers, “I don’t know, sir.”

The professor clicks his tongue in disapproval, writing something down with his quill as he says, “Probably should’ve done some pre-reading before class, Iwaizumi-kun.”

The chastised boy clenches his fists in irritation, willing himself to keep his temper in check as he scowls at the table. The professor surveys the room as if about to reveal the answer to the class, but his attention is snagged by a raised hand on the Slytherin side of the dungeon.

“Oikawa-kun,” the professor acknowledges in a warmer tone, definitely because everyone seems to know who Oikawa’s parents are. The thought leaves a sour taste in Iwaizumi’s mouth. 

“Those ingredients would brew a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death, sir,” Oikawa answers easily in a tone one might use to discuss their day. What’s even worse is that he’s smirking in Iwaizumi’s general direction, but the Gryffindor knows that it’s aimed at him specifically. When the professor beams— _beams_ —and nods, Iwaizumi visualizes throwing a cauldron at Oikawa’s head.

“Very good! Ten points to Slytherin,” the professor says as he starts pacing around the classroom, making a point to look at each and every one of them. “This class is not just about throwing in ingredients and waving your wands foolishly. I expect all of you to understand the significance behind every single ingredient, the dangers behind certain potions…”

The professor drones on and on about the basics of potions, but Iwaizumi listens to approximately zero percent of it. All he can think of is that infuriatingly arrogant smirk Oikawa had directed at him, and how much he had wanted to punch it off the Slytherin’s face.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The next time Iwaizumi is subjected to Oikawa’s antics, it’s during his flying lesson on Friday with the Slytherins. They’re out on the field, each standing next to an old broomstick. Iwaizumi thinks that it looks exactly like the one his dad uses to sweep the doormat back home, and honestly can’t see how it can possibly fly—let alone fly with _him_ sitting on it—but he tries his best to follow Madam Nakamura’s instructions. Flying’s been something everyone seems to have been buzzing about excitedly for the past week, and Iwaizumi will admit he’s been looking forward to this, having never experienced it (his father was adamant about him having a normal muggle life until he got his letter).

Madam Nakamura is correcting a Slytherin’s grip when Sugiyama’s broom starts to drift upwards slowly, prompting a high-pitched shriek from the girl. The coach tries her best to calm the girl down and instructs her on landing safely, but Sugiyama, in her terror, ends up slipping off her broom and onto the ground with an audible _crack_.

“Oh dear, let’s get you to the infirmary,” Madam Nakamura says gently after inspecting Sugiyama’s arm. She helps the Gryffindor girl up, then turns to the rest of them and orders, “No one flies on their broomstick while I’m gone, or there _will_ be consequences.”

The two houses separate into their own conversations, with the topic of discussion among the Gryffindors being the rules of Quidditch. Ushijima and Bokuto are the ones who mainly lead the conversation given their background with Quidditch, and Iwaizumi’s content with just listening. Bokuto’s recounting a particularly thrilling tale about one of his father’s Quidditch games when someone interrupts them.

“Yoohoo, Iwaizumi!”

Iwaizumi scowls immediately at the sound of the sickeningly breezy voice and turns to see Oikawa standing in the midst of the Slytherins, looking right at him. They haven’t talked at all since Oikawa humiliated him in Potions on the first day, but Iwaizumi can’t help but notice the Slytherin shooting him lazy smirks whenever they cross paths, like it’s a challenge.

“What.”

“Ever been on a broom before?” Oikawa questions with sharp eyes that imply he’s well aware of Iwaizumi’s nonexistent history with flying. The Gryffindor’s face remains distasteful, refusing to give Oikawa another chance at humiliating him.

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi lies easily.

Oikawa’s eyes narrow, and a dangerous smile plays on his lips. “Really? Then you wouldn’t mind having a little race, hm?”

Iwaizumi, being one to never back down from a challenge, agrees easily despite Daichi’s protests. Remembering Ushijima’s brief rundown of the next steps after mounting a broom, Iwaizumi kicks off the ground, hard, and finds himself spiraling into the air. There’s a brief moment of trepidation in which the Gryffindor can’t really believe he’s actually _flying_ , and the wind is rushing towards his face and the world’s spinning, but that emotion is quickly replaced by elation as he manages to right his broom. Several of his housemates let out cheers (Bokuto being the loudest) while Daichi shakes his head, murmuring something under his breath. Iwaizumi doesn’t have time to dwell on that because Oikawa soars gracefully to a stop next to him and flashes his trademark smirk.

“That was an interesting kick-off. Are you sure you’ve done this before? Pretty sure no one tries to look like a tornado when they launch.”

Iwaizumi glowers at him and replies, “Yeah, well, nobody wants to look like a mega asshole, yet here you are.”

Oikawa’s silent, though his eyes stare into Iwaizumi’s like he’s trying to dissect his soul. The expression disappears when he grins in a rather predatory way and proposes, “How about first one to complete a lap around the stadium wins?”

“Only if you can do that without cheating,” Iwaizumi says. Word around is that the Slytherin’s been flying since he was four and that he’ll probably be recruited onto the team next year. Iwaizumi tries to stop thinking about that as they fly to the edge of the stadium. It’s surprisingly easy to control the broom, the movements coming naturally to the Gryffindor, and that alleviates some of his apprehension.

They count down together, then zoom off into the air. Iwaizumi grips his broom harder than he needs to, still afraid that he’ll make a mistake and fall off like Madam Nakamura had warned them. However, he gradually gains confidence when they’re halfway into the lap and he’s still in line with Oikawa, neither of them letting the other get ahead.

“Not doing bad, huh?” The wind mutes Oikawa’s voice, but it’s still audible given how close they are to each other.

“Of course,” Iwaizumi answers absentmindedly, not keen on making small talk with the Slytherin when the finish line is in sight.

They’re almost back to the starting point, where their classmates are cheering and screaming, when the coach steps back out onto the field and immediately starts yelling at them to get their butts back onto the ground. Iwaizumi does so reluctantly because they were _this_ close to finishing and tying (which isn’t winning, but it’s almost just as good when his opponent is someone as arrogant as Oikawa who seems like the type to be a sore loser), but the fury in Madam Nakamura’s eyes tells him he’s got a much bigger problem to worry about than winning against Oikawa in a race.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

They end up getting suspended from flying lessons for two weeks, which is better than getting detention, Iwaizumi supposes. It still doesn’t stop him from hating Oikawa for provoking him and now making him miss the lesson he’s been looking forward to the most.

“It’s honestly just so unfair,” Iwaizumi grumbles to Kuroo, a Ravenclaw he’s befriended in Herbology class.

Daichi looks over and reminds him, “You _did_ agree to the race.” Ushijima nods while throwing out an arm to stop Bokuto from walking too close to the Spiky Bushes.

Iwaizumi grimaces, wondering why his friend has to be so logical. “Yeah, well, I couldn’t just take the taunt and do nothing about it. Someone needs to put him in his place.” He picks up his wand to cast the _Incendio_ spell onto the next bush, but Kuroo beats him to it.

“Why don’t you just get back at him for it if you’re so caught up on this?” The Ravenclaw suggests while they watch the spikes disappear from the plants.

“Like… prank him or something?”

Kuroo nods. “Yeah, so he knows not to mess with you anymore.”

Iwaizumi’s skeptical about this idea because the logic sounds quite flimsy, but Bokuto jumps into the conversation with enthusiastic agreements.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll think about it,” Iwaizumi says, then thanks Kuroo for his input, who gives him a lazy grin.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Iwaizumi’s ready when Oikawa rounds the corner and into the hallway, having devised his plan of revenge following a conversation with Daichi on weird muggle trends they saw over the summer.

“I see him, get ready,” Iwaizumi tells Bokuto from the door of the classroom, who salutes him enthusiastically and carefully pokes the handle of the broomstick up against the tub of ice water levitated against the ceiling. Iwaizumi stops his levitating charm on the tub now that Bokuto is supporting it and grins up at it. Daichi had been the one to bring this prank up when he confessed he’d fallen for it and gotten himself drenched after being stuck holding the broomstick for an hour.

It’s the perfect plan of action to get back at the stupidly infuriating Slytherin.

The two Gryffindors proceed to stare up at the bucket in the most natural pose they can muster ( _Bokuto really should not be an actor_ , Iwaizumi thinks to himself as he eyes his housemate doing some kind of pose that resembles a drunk owl), staying in position as Oikawa passes by the classroom. Iwaizumi internally does a fist pump when the Slytherin pokes his head through the doorway and regards them with suspicion.

“What are you guys doing?” the Slytherin asks disdainfully, looking at Bokuto holding the broomstick like it’s the stupidest thing he’s ever seen.

“It’s a muggle magic trick,” Iwaizumi says, trying his best to keep his voice void of any hatred he’s feeling at the sight of the prick. “Want to try?”

Oikawa’s face twists into visible derision as he scoffs, “Those muggles don’t understand _real_ magic, but fine, I’ll see how dumb your trick is.”

“Alright, just come over here and hold this broomstick that Bokuto’s holding,” Iwaizumi instructs, internally smirking as the Slytherin complies hesitantly. Bokuto eagerly moves backwards to let Oikawa take the handle, who does so slowly while staring at Iwaizumi like he can’t quite figure out the catch here.

“Okay, now just stay here,” Iwaizumi says and turns to exit the classroom, leaving an unimpressed Slytherin.

“That’s it? What even is this stupid trick?”

Bokuto points upwards and exclaims, “It’s a tub of ice-cold water! You have to figure out how to not let it fall.”

Oikawa sneers as he goes to retrieve something from his pockets. “That’s so easy. I’ll just use my wan— wait a minute.” The boy pats his pockets on both sides, twisting awkwardly to feel up the whole of his robes in search of his missing wand while one hand remains on the broomstick.

“Looking for this?” Iwaizumi teases with a lazy grin, holding up Oikawa’s wand. He supposes dangling it would make this more taunting, but he doesn’t want to accidentally drop it and snap it.

“How did you—” Oikawa starts to ask with his eyes glued to his precious wand, torn between lunging to snatch it back and remaining in place to keep the water from raining down on him.

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” Iwaizumi says before motioning for Bokuto to follow him out of the room, the two ignoring the Slytherin’s ear-splitting protests as they close the door, and a Muffliato Charm is cast.

✧

Nothing can top Iwaizumi’s satisfaction as a certain Slytherin barges into the Great Hall dripping wet. _What a shame we haven’t learned any quick-drying spells yet_ , he thinks when droplets fall from Oikawa’s curls onto the ground. He hears a wave of murmurs around him as boys question Oikawa’s unusual less-than-pristine form and girls swoon over his wet hair (Iwaizumi is unbothered by the latter since he knows someone as prideful as Oikawa would despise to be presented as anything but immaculate).

“Are we going to get in trouble for that?” Bokuto whispers worriedly, his eyes darting around frantically for any incoming professors.

“Nah, don’t worry. We won’t.” Iwaizumi knows that this is something between the two of them, and to drag a professor into this would be a sign of defeat.

Oikawa glares and points at him menacingly before gracefully (or, as gracefully as he can with his soaking wet clothes) taking a seat at the Slytherin table. Some upperclassmen are heading his way, presumably to interrogate him and dry him up, but Oikawa pays no heed, instead staring straight at Iwaizumi.

The Gryffindor understands the message loud and clear. The war has officially begun.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Two weeks later, Iwaizumi is half-listening to Bokuto’s daily rant (topic of the day: oranges. _“Why aren’t oranges blue? If they were blue, would they be called blues?”_ ) and half-staring at the pineapple slices arranged artfully on a platter in front of him (which reminds him of his Charms test later that day where he’ll have to make a pineapple dance on a desk. _Why_ he needs to learn this, he has absolutely no clue) when an unfamiliar tawny owl swoops in and lands on his piece of toast.

“Okay, sure, I wasn’t gonna eat that or anything,” Iwaizumi says dryly to the owl, who stares at him with huge, innocent eyes before stuffing its face into a plate of ham. “Ushijima, is this your owl?”

The addressed boy turns to regard the creature currently nipping at a piece of meat and shakes his head. “No. That is not my Georgos.”

“Daichi?” Iwaizumi directs to the boy sitting across from him, who’s cutting neatly through a sausage.

“No. Yume is a snowy owl, remember?”

Iwaizumi turns back to the owl in front of him, now hopping up and down with its left leg sticking out, where a little brown parcel is tied. “Oh, right. Do you think this owl got the wrong person then?”

“That’d be weird. The owls shouldn’t get confused about their owners,” Bokuto says, feeding a small chunk of meat to the owl, who pecks happily at it. “This one’s probably here for you.”

Iwaizumi eyes the package skeptically, then unwinds it from the owl’s leg. He hasn’t even had time to untie the twine when the owl spreads its wings—knocking over Bokuto’s goblet of orange juice—and flies off, leaving behind two talon-prints on Iwaizumi’s sad piece of toast.

“Bye, owl! Come visit again!” Bokuto yells at the retreating creature as Iwaizumi hastily retrieves his wand to clean up the juice spill. Daichi refills Bokuto’s now-empty goblet and inclines his head towards Iwaizumi’s parcel.

“You gonna open that?”

Still wary, Iwaizumi slowly unwraps the brown packaging paper, almost expecting something to just suddenly jump out at him (paranoia that he’s developed thanks to Oikawa) when the paper unfolds to reveal two boxes of sweets. Confused, the Gryffindor cautiously picks up the red-and-white-striped one with a pyramidal peak and reads the label.

_Every Flavour Beans_.

He saw these on the lunch lady’s cart on the Hogwarts Express and knows from Suga that these are popular sweets in the wizarding world, but he has no idea why anyone would send this to him. Did someone send these to him by accident?

“I think this is just a box of fudge,” Daichi tells them as he scrutinizes the contents of the other box. “Does it say who these are from?”

Iwaizumi flips the packaging paper over to inspect the bottom, which reveals his name neatly written in black ink. He checks the rest of the paper, inside and out, but there’s no sign of the person who sent this. “No. It just has my name on it.”

“Well, at least we know it’s meant for you.”

“Yeah, but why?” Iwaizumi wonders as he pulls the box of fudge towards himself when Daichi hands it over.

“Maybe it’s a secret admirer,” Daichi teases with a grin.

Iwaizumi scoffs and shakes his head. “More like, someone wants to poison m— Oh.” He whips his head towards Bokuto, who has already opened the box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and is currently cramming a handful into his mouth.

“Bokuto! Don’t eat that!” Iwaizumi yells, earning him the stares of the second-years sitting next to them. The chastised boy looks up as he gags and swallows.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have eaten that,” Bokuto says and desperately drinks from his goblet. Iwaizumi and Daichi watch him with wide eyes, as if waiting for their friend to suddenly drop dead. “Oh man, that was the worst combination of beans I’ve ever tasted.”

Daichi is the first to speak, albeit hesitantly. “Um. Do you feel anything weird?”

“Nope!” Bokuto answers, then pauses as if in thought. “Unless you count the taste of a dying squirrel in my mouth.”

Iwaizumi releases a breath as his fear evaporates, and he eyes his friend suspiciously. “How do you know what a dying squirrel tastes like?”

“Eh, childhood curiosity,” Bokuto replies nonchalantly as he picks up the Every Flavor Bean container. “I wish they’d list out all the flavors so I can avoid all the disgusting ones.”

“What _did_ you even taste?” Daichi questions, putting his knife and fork down neatly onto the plate.

Bokuto scrunches up his nose like the mere thought of the beans is as horrifying as eating them again. “Well, there was definitely vomit in there somewhere. And something earthy, maybe dirt. There were two green ones too, one light and one dark—”

“Okay, I think you can stop there,” Daichi cuts in, trying not to think about what his housemate has just said lest his own breakfast comes back up. He gestures to the box of fudge in front of Iwaizumi and asks, “Since Bokuto thankfully didn’t get poisoned by the beans, do you think that’s safe to eat?”

Iwaizumi tentatively picks up a piece and examines the blue wrapper. “Probably? I’ll try one.”

“Or maybe we should take them to Profes—”

“It’s alright,” Iwaizumi assures, already unwrapping a piece, before joking, “you can always take me to Professor Irihata for an antidote if I start turning purple.”

He takes a bite before Daichi can protest further, the chocolate melting against his tongue. Daichi stares at him like he’s now waiting for _him_ to drop dead any moment and visually relaxes when Iwaizumi shrugs to indicate nothing out of the ordinary.

“It’s actually pretty good. You want one?” Iwaizumi asks, offering the box to Daichi.

The boy shakes his head politely. “It’s alright, I just finished breakfast. We should go anyway; it’s almost time for Potions.”

Iwaizumi sighs as he finishes his last sip of orange juice. “What fun it is to spend the morning with the Slytherins.”

“Is Oikawa still giving you trouble?” Ushijima asks, standing up from the bench. Iwaizumi has gotten used to having Ushijima just sitting there and listening to the conversation, being a boy of few words unless Quidditch or Herbology comes up.

“Not really,” Iwaizumi answers truthfully. Nothing has happened between him and Oikawa for the past two weeks aside from the usual snide comments and taunting eye contact, which definitely arouses suspicion. It’s almost as if Oikawa’s waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, and Iwaizumi knows he’ll have to be on guard if he doesn’t want to fall for another dumb trick.

✧

Iwaizumi’s rereading the recipe to make sure he’s gotten the measurements right when a sickly feeling overtakes his stomach, and his head starts feeling foggy. He thinks that he might just be having an adverse reaction to the smell of the potion they’re making today and tries to continue reading, but he soon finds the words on the page starting to blur as little stars dot his vision.

“Daichi.” Even his voice sounds sluggish, and he sits down on the stool because he thinks he might just topple over if he doesn’t. “I don’t feel so well.”

Alarmed, his bench partner hurriedly abandons the mistletoe berries in the mortar and moves closer to Iwaizumi. “Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

Iwaizumi briefly considers waiting it out because he doesn’t want to miss Irihata’s class, but decides against it because his head feels so heavy that he just wants to lie down on a bed and sleep. “Yeah, I’ll just…” He makes an attempt to get up and take a step, but only succeeds in nearly tripping over his own feet as his vision turns black.

“Whoa, be careful. I’ll go with you.”

Iwaizumi vaguely hears Daichi’s calm voice conveying the situation to Professor Irihata as his mind tries to figure out how he’s suddenly so sick. He was completely fine yesterday, and he rarely ever gets sick so suddenly, so he has no idea what’s happening.

“Let’s go,” Daichi says, one hand on Iwaizumi’s arm to lead him out of the classroom. “Irihata says we can make up for this assignment later this week after you get better.”

Iwaizumi looks down at the ground, trying to concentrate on getting his feet to move properly, and mutters, “Thanks.”

They’re almost to the door when a voice laced with feigned concern comes from one of the work benches closer to the door. “Not feeling well, Iwaizumi?”

The addressed Gryffindor doesn’t even have to look up to know that the voice belongs to the one and only Oikawa Tooru. Daichi grips his friend’s arm firmly as a silent _let’s go_ , as if knowing the hundreds of insults flying around in his head.

“What a shame. Will Iwaizumi be able to catch up with today’s lesson with that tiny brain of his?”

“Shut up, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi finds the strength to growl.

“What a shame I took out the antidotes for those fever fudges before I sent them. Oh, and also all the good flavored beans. How did you like the boogers and dog food?”

Daichi seems to have finally had enough and opens his mouth to say, “Oikawa, tha—” but Iwaizumi cuts him off.

“You freaking prick!” He would just let it slide if he could mull over how to get back at the Slytherin later, but the fact that Bokuto had fallen victim to Oikawa’s prank makes his blood boil. “Bokuto looked like he was going to throw up when he ate the beans!”

“Well, they _were_ meant for you. Too bad he ate them instead.” Iwaizumi can hear the dismissive tone, the lack of regard that Oikawa has for dragging someone innocent into this. “I do like Bo-chan. He reminds me of a little flightless owl.”

Iwaizumi’s about to keep going at Oikawa when he has the sudden urge to revisit his breakfast, and he lurches forward while covering his mouth. Daichi frantically tugs on Iwaizumi to get him to the infirmary, or maybe the nearest bathroom, as soon as possible, but Iwaizumi still manages to make a rude gesture at Oikawa before leaving.

Oikawa’s smug laughter follows Iwaizumi down the hall like a bothersome ghost.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“I can’t believe the Christmas holidays start next week,” Daichi comments as they make their way to the training grounds for the last Flying lesson of the term. Iwaizumi adjusts his crimson and gold scarf to wrap it more snugly around his neck as it’s freezing outside, and it’ll surely be worse when they’re on their brooms speeding against the wind.

Bokuto whoops with excitement and announces, “My father promised me a broomstick as my Christmas present this year!”

“So lucky. You won’t have to use the school’s rusty old brooms for Quidditch try-outs next year,” Iwaizumi says.

When they were able to pick a broom to stick with for the rest of the year, Iwaizumi had chosen one that was relatively new compared to the rest, but it was still slow to respond at times. He might buy a broomstick of his own next year for Quidditch try-outs, or borrow Bokuto’s if possible because he doesn’t want to hurt his chances of making the team.

They discuss their winter plans as they pick up their brooms and wait for the coach to arrive. Bokuto’s telling them about Christmas traditions in a wizarding household when a bunch of Slytherins emerge onto the pitch, each holding a broomstick. Iwaizumi spots the coach right behind them, which is why he excitedly grabs his broomstick and kicks off the ground. After that first Flying lesson, they’ve all been extra careful about following the rule about no flying without adult supervision.

Oikawa’s one of the last Slytherins to show up, with Hanamaki and Matsukawa flanking him as usual. Iwaizumi watches as Hanamaki shouts something like “ _last one in the air is a rotten egg_ ” and proceeds to kick off immediately, leaving behind his two protesting friends. Oikawa’s much quicker at mounting his broom, presumably from all those years of flying, and he sticks out his tongue at Matsukawa, who’s still yelling “up!” at his broom, before kicking off the ground.

Iwaizumi watches with silent delight as Oikawa remains with his feet planted firmly on the ground, and the boy’s expression morphs into confusion. He stomps a few more times on the ground to no avail, and Matsukawa’s already flown into the air with a _sucker!_ before Ushijima says matter-of-factly, “Oikawa, that is a mop.”

“ _What_ ,” Oikawa squawks as he scrambles off his broom and holds it up for inspection. His face turns into one of unconcealed fury when he realizes he had been trying to ride what was, indeed, a mop painted to look like a broomstick, with the mass of yarn tied together. “Who the _hell_ did this?”

Daichi gives Iwaizumi a side-eye as the Slytherin proceeds to rattle off a string of expletives until the coach tells him to watch his language. “You wouldn’t have had anything to do with this, would you?”

Iwaizumi finally lets out the grin he had been suppressing and shrugs innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Iwaizumi feels an undeniable feeling of déjà vu as he finds himself sitting across from Daichi and Suga again on the Hogwarts Express, but this time, with the addition of Bokuto (Ushijima had gone to sit with some of his other friends). Somehow, it feels more complete, like Bokuto’s presence is what makes this the perfect traveling squad.

“Ah, a whole year has come and gone,” Daichi laments as he looks out at the mountains in the distance.

“Don’t get all sentimental on us, Daichi. We still have six years to go,” Iwaizumi says, unwrapping a chocolate frog and letting Bokuto take the collectible card to have a look.

The pepper-haired boy’s eyes light up and he waves the card excitedly in the air. “It’s Albus Dumbledore!”

The compartment fills with noise as Bokuto and Daichi both try to trade for the card from Iwaizumi, but they’re interrupted by the door abruptly sliding open.

“What’s this?” The sneering face of Oikawa looks down at them as he eyes the stacks of the chocolate frog cards in their hands. “Swapping cards like losers? I collected all one hundred and one cards by the time I was nine.”

Iwaizumi’s the only one blunt enough to give him a rude gesture without any care in the world. “Piss off, Oikawa. Don’t you have a pacifier or something to go suck on?”

The Slytherin narrows his eyes at Iwaizumi, who stares back unflinchingly, while the other three boys exchange glances at the palpable tension. Finally, Oikawa plasters on a razor-sharp smile and says, “I’ll see you next year.”

He slides the door shut with more force than appropriate, which Suga cringes at. “That was interesting.”

“Nothing’s interesting about that prick,” Iwaizumi says with more aggression than he means to have. “At least I’ll be away from his drama for two months.”

Suga taps his chin thoughtfully. “Oikawa’s not that bad of a person once you get to know him. He’s always so patient with the kids during the family gatherings. Maybe you two can become friends in the future.”

  
Iwaizumi grimaces simultaneously at the ideas of Oikawa with kids (he’d definitely frighten the heck out of them), Suga—a literal angel—being related to someone as evil as Oikawa ( _very_ distant cousins, but still), and most of all, being _friends_ with someone like that.

“I definitely have a bigger chance of being friends with the giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest than that idiot,” Iwaizumi mutters, shaking his head.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

_2nd year_

“Congratulations! I knew you had it in you, Iwaizumi,” Daichi says with a clap on his friend’s back. He’s had faith in Iwaizumi ever since that first Flying lesson when the boy had almost tied with the legendary Oikawa in a race.

“Thank you. You should try out for the team next year when the current Keeper leaves. I think you’d be perfect for the role,” Iwaizumi says sincerely. Daichi’s reliable and sturdy nature has made him a great friend, and Iwaizumi knows that these skills would make him a great Keeper too.

“Maybe. Suga said he might try out next year too since one of the chasers is graduating. Who else made the team?” Daichi asks, flipping a page in his History of Magic textbook. They’re the only ones in the common room aside from a group of fourth-years playing exploding snap in the corner. Bokuto’s probably off with his Ravenclaw first-year friend Akaashi, and Daichi hasn’t seen Ushijima since dinner, so it’s just him and Iwaizumi tonight.

“Ushijima, of course. He’s probably better than some of the upperclassmen,” Iwaizumi answers truthfully as he sifts through a pile of parchments to find his class notes.

“Bokuto didn’t try out?”

“No. He said he wanted to wait and try out for the beater position next year after Onodera-san graduates, remember?”

“Oh yeah.”

They work in silence for a while, both busy absorbing details about the International Warlock Convention of 1289, before Daichi clears his throat.

“Did Oikawa make the team?”

Iwaizumi doesn’t even look up from his notes. “Yeah. He did.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Iwaizumi can’t find his broom in the broom shed on the morning of his very first match, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. What he does find, however, is a colorful plastic toy broom, evidently made for toddlers. Scowling, he bends down to read the note attached to it:

_Don’t you think this broom suits you better?_

_Tiny broom for a tiny person with a tiny brain, right ;)_

_Good luck today! Not that you’d win with it anyway_

_xoxo_

The note disintegrates as soon as Iwaizumi finishes reading it (not that it matters; he would’ve burned it anyway), probably having been magicked to do so to destroy all evidence linking the culprit to the crime. The Gryffindor knows that Oikawa’s behind this, of course. He can almost hear the Slytherin’s airy, taunting tone chirping out this message.

“Iwaizumi, did you—” Ushijima comes to a stop as he notices the toy in the other boy’s hand. “Oh. I did not realize you still retained the desire to—”

“No, no,” Iwaizumi hastens to explain, not wanting his teammate to think he comes to the broom shed to play with toddler toys in his spare time. “I think someone switched my firebolt with this toy.”

Ushijima’s eyebrows furrow (which is basically the extent of his facial expressions) as he guesses, “Oikawa?”

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi replies as he shoves the toy into his bag. He’s thinking of giving it to one of his housemates who recently got a younger sibling. “Don’t worry about it though. It’s just something between us.”

“Okay. Do you want help locating your broomstick?”

“Sure. Thank you.”

✧

They find it wedged between two branches of one of the trees in the courtyard just before the match starts. Their captain berates them for missing his pre-game speech (to the envy of the other teammates. Apparently the captain’s famous for giving _very_ long but boring pep talks. Legend has it that it once lasted for a whole hour and the entire team fell asleep), but Oikawa’s disappointed face when Iwaizumi emerges on his broom from the Gryffindor entrance gives him the vigor he needs for the match.

He nabs the Quaffle right at the start and scores the first goal, cheers and screams coming from the sea of people in the stands.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Who the _hell_ ransacked our room?” Daichi spits, stomping down the stairs. Iwaizumi furrows his brows, having never seen his friend _this_ furious. The last time something got on Daichi’s nerves this badly was probably when a group of first years tried to make a Polyjuice Potion to sneak out the answers for the upcoming DADA test and blew up the common room.

“What?”

Bokuto stretches from where he sits on one of the armchairs and rubs his eyes. “What’s happening?”

“Come take a look for yourselves,” Daichi says, face stony as he beckons them. The other two Gryffindors climb up the stairs and into the dormitory, bracing themselves for the worst. It’s not _as_ bad as Iwaizumi would’ve thought—he was expecting overturned dressers and ripped drapes—but it’s definitely bad enough for Daichi to be fuming about this. Almost all of the drawers are open with clothes spilling out of them, and the floor is littered with items ranging from magazines to papers to sweets to crystal vials. A bunch of chocolate galleon wrappers are strewn about on Bokuto’s bed, while Iwaizumi’s blanket lies in a heap at the foot of his bed.

“My chocolate galleons!” Bokuto wails as he kneels down onto the floor next to his bed.

Iwaizumi pats Bokuto on the shoulder in consolation as Daichi asks, “Did you two let anyone in here?”

“No,” Iwaizumi answers immediately. He heads over to his own bed, picks up the blanket, and casts a cleaning spell on it before placing it back over the bedsheets.

“Do you think Ushijima would?” Daichi questions suspiciously.

“I doubt it. The only possibility would be Tendou, but Ushijima doesn’t seem like the type to bring others into our dormitory.”

“Well, I sure h—”

“Wait,” Iwaizumi interrupts and signals at his two friends to be quiet. Bokuto seems to have finally recovered from the loss of his chocolate stash and is instead picking the wrappers up gently and mumbling about arranging a funeral. “Do you hear that?”

The dormitory descends into silence, and a faint rustling noise comes from somewhere in the room. Daichi throws Iwaizumi a confused look and starts looking through the curtains to find the source of the noise.

Iwaizumi closes his eyes and listens hard to the sounds of clinking and rummaging, which seem to be coming from somewhere near his feet. He gets down onto the ground and presses his ear against the floor in order to see better under his bed, and, sure enough, there’s a silhouette digging through his luggage.

“Got you!” the boy yells as he reaches under the bed to capture the culprit. He feels something soft and furry in his hand, and he finds himself looking at a platypus-like creature with a bunch of coins peeking out from its pouch. “Oh. What’s this?” he asks stupidly at the creature, who’s now staring up at him curiously as he stands back up.

Bokuto’s face lights up. “I know those guys! They’re nifflers!”

“They’re what?”

“Nifflers! My father told me about them once because one of them ran loose at one of his local Quidditch matches and the game had to be stopped because the niffler stole a bunch of money from people,” Bokuto explains. “They’re pretty harmless, but they can cause a mess because they’re always looking for shiny things.”

“Evidently,” Daichi deadpans. “How on earth did it even get in here?”

Iwaizumi definitely has an idea, but he decides against letting his housemates know because he doesn’t want a full-on war between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. “No idea. Maybe it got lost or something.”

“And ended up climbing up the Gryffindor Tower, through the Fat Lady, and up into our dormitory?”

Iwaizumi shrugs and starts petting the niffler on the head. The creature’s pretty cute, and the chaos it has caused in their room reminds him somewhat of Godzilla, his favorite movie character. “Eh, are you saying that would be the weirdest you’ve seen since entering the wizarding world?”

Daichi thinks for a moment before admitting, “Okay, probably not. What’re you going to do with the little guy then? We can take him to the Care of Magical Creatures professor; I’m sure he’ll know what to do.”

“I think I’ll keep him,” Iwaizumi says, then moves his hand down to pet the niffler’s belly.

“I sincerely hope you mean the niffler and not the professor.”

“Oh, no, I think I’ll just adopt a professor.”

Bokuto suddenly pops up on the other side of Iwaizumi’s bed, having finished tidying up the mess on his own bed. “Who’s adopting a what?”

Iwaizumi holds up the niffler and answers, “This guy. I’m naming him Gojira.”

“Oh! After that giant gorilla whale thing!”

“Isn’t Gojira a giant lizard?” Daichi asks, looking towards Iwaizumi for confirmation since he seems to be the resident expert on the film character.

Bokuto scratches his head, then wonders, “But isn’t the name _Gojira_ a combination between gorilla and whale?”

“Well, he does look like a gorilla and whale hybrid, but he’s supposed to be a dinosaur,” Iwaizumi explains.

“Ah, so I was right about the giant lizard.”

“Dinosaurs aren’t the same as lizards, Daichi,” Iwaizumi says and shakes his head in feigned disappointment. “You’re insulting the mighty Gojira.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“So, what electives did you guys pick for next year?” Suga asks with genuine excitement before biting into a cauldron cake. The floor rattles beneath them as the Hogwarts Express crosses the bridge.

“Care of Magical Creatures and Divination!” Bokuto answers enthusiastically while trying to catch a runaway chocolate frog that’s hopping all over the walls. 

“Arithmancy and Ancient Runes,” Daichi says as he retrieves his wand, presumably to help Bokuto.

Iwaizumi is the last to answer. “Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy.”

“Oh? Are you sure Arithmancy’s not too advanced for a tiny brain like yours, Iwaizumi? There’s a lot of memorization and chart-reading involved, you know.”

The four boys look towards the door to find Oikawa standing there, a taunting smirk on his face.

“Do you seriously not have better stuff to do than barging into other people’s compartments?” Iwaizumi asks, annoyed. “Or do you wander up and down the train looking for conversations to butt into because you have no life?”

“Actually, I was just passing by because a group of girls in one of the other compartments has requested my presence,” Oikawa says smugly. “Too bad you don’t know what it’s like to be popular.”

“Too bad you don’t know what it’s like to be surrounded by people that _actually_ like you,” Iwaizumi retorts immediately. Suga brings a hand up to his mouth and whispers, “ _Savage_.”

The pompous grin finally disappears as a scowl takes its place, and Oikawa sneers before slamming the compartment door shut. None of them say anything as the sound of Oikawa stomping off fades away.

“So, I see there’s been no development in that relationship,” Suga finally remarks.

“And there never will be,” Iwaizumi mutters as he unwraps a Liquorice Wand and tears off a chunk with his teeth.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

_3rd year_

Iwaizumi’s trying his best to magic a teapot into a tortoise when Professor Nekomata starts developing what the Gryffindor can only describe as “an unfortunate case of flatulence.” The old man freezes right next to Hanamaki’s and Matsukawa’s table, where the two Slytherins start coughing. A couple of snickers can be heard around the room, though Iwaizumi knows everyone’s trying to hold in their laughter.

Being a professor at Hogwarts for so many years, Nekomata knows a prank when he sees one, which is why he stalks to the front of the classroom and demands, “Who spiked my drink with a Maximum Turbo Farts Potion?”

Another round of snickers erupt at the name, but the professor’s face remains stony as he assesses the room. Iwaizumi’s inspecting his teapot—which has four stumpy legs, so basically his tortoise is a teapot with legs right now—when Oikawa raises his hand.

“Professor, I saw Iwaizumi pour something into your bottle before class today.”

The accused Gryffindor whips his head back furiously at Oikawa, knowing damn well this is another one of the Slytherin’s schemes.

“Professor, I didn’t do it. Oikawa’s just—” Iwaizumi starts to deny, turning around to address their teacher.

“No, I’m sure he did it. He probably still has the potion in his bag,” Oikawa asserts, his tone even. However, Iwaizumi can see something glinting in the Slytherin’s eyes and a smirk ghosting on his lips.

“I don’t!” Iwaizumi stands up abruptly and starts emptying his bookbag to prove his innocence. “Look, I don’t have the p—” he points out before stopping because lying _right_ there in the middle of the pile of stuff he’s just dumped out is—believe it or not—a bottle of Maximum Turbo Farts Potion. The Gryffindor spins around to face Oikawa, about to accuse the Slytherin of pinning the blame on him, when the professor speaks.

“Iwaizumi-kun, I expected better of you. I’ll talk to you after class.”

Iwaizumi likes to think that he’s a logical and fair guy, but he can’t help pulling out his wand as red paints his visions, recalling the numerous times Oikawa’s tried to humiliate him ever since that first Potions class. _And_ how the Slytherin’s basically established himself as an angel so that the professors would always be on his side.

“ _Furnunculus!_ ”

Oikawa and several girls emit high-pitched noises of distress as boils erupt across the Slytherin’s face, prompting a face of rage and vengeance.

“ _Langlock!”_

Iwaizumi feels an invisible force latch onto his tongue and hold it against the roof of his mouth, rendering him speechless.

“Stop! Iwaizumi-kun and Oikawa-kun, _both_ of you see me after class!” the professor yells, disappointment and anger clearly written on his face. Oikawa’s sent downstairs to the hospital for treatment while the professor goes to retrieve his wand in order to reverse the jinx on Iwaizumi. Before the Slytherin leaves, however, he glares at Iwaizumi, which the Gryffindor answers with a middle finger.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Oikawa fumes as he slams another award back onto the shelf as aggressively as he can without breaking it. He wouldn’t put it past the professor to make him hand-craft another one if he shatters any of these since they’re not allowed to use magic _a_ _t all_. It’s gets worser when he thinks about how there are _nine hundred and sixty-seven_ awards, trophies, medals, and who knows what else in this stupid trophy room that are supposed to be polished in their three months of detention.

His mind wanders to the countless assignments he has awaiting him in the common room, probably worth four hours of work. He thinks it’s ridiculous how much work the teachers are already unloading onto them when it has only been two months, though he’ll have to admit it’d be much less of a hassle if he didn’t have to waste two hours every evening in this room.

_There’s that potions essay I have to write on undetectable poisons… probably a piece of cake. Pretty sure_ _M_ _other’s told me about them enough for me to write a book. Then there’s the reading I have to do for Charms and DADA. Ugh, and the essay on Medieval witch burnings for History of Magic. That one’s gonna be such a pain…_

The Slytherin glances to the side at the only other source of noise in the room and his only company for these two hours every night. He thought it’d be excruciating to work with this boy who’s been his rival for the past two years, who he hates with every fiber of his being, but they’ve been surprisingly civil. Iwaizumi hasn’t even talked to him during their detention sessions, except for that one time when he told the Slytherin to “shut the hell up with the complaining or I’ll hex you into tomorrow,” (which resulted in an almost-duel that thankfully de-escalated as soon as the professor came to check in on them. Oikawa did _not_ need another month of detention tacked onto what he already had).

A sudden thought worms into his head, seemingly so absurd and stupid that Oikawa scoffs at himself and tries to dismiss it. Unfortunately for him, it lingers in his mind, growing in size as he reflects over the pile of homework waiting for him, and how he’s stayed up until three in the morning every day of the past week just to finish his assignments. Before he knows it, he finds himself addressing the Gryffindor silently wiping a plaque.

“What,” Iwaizumi’s gruff voice replies, annoyance lacing the word.

_What am I doing_ , Oikawa thinks to himself. He can hardly believe he’s about to ask _this_ boy—his self-proclaimed nemesis—to work on homework together, when he can just ask Hanamaki or Matsukawa for help if he _really_ needs it. Except… somehow, Oikawa’s feeling some sort of _connection_ to Iwaizumi, as if this detention experience is starting to bind them together. And Iwaizumi isn’t _that_ bad, he supposes. They’re almost transcending the line between “enemies” and “people that reluctantly put up with each other”.

“Want, um.” Oikawa clears his throat, having half the mind to just say _never mind_ and pretend this never happened. However, he swallows his pride and continues with, “Want to work on homework after this?”

Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow, eyeing him with skepticism as if wondering what sort of scheme the Slytherin is plotting this time.

“No strings attached,” Oikawa elaborates upon seeing the Gryffindor’s hesitation. “Just homework.”

The other boy snorts and takes a step to the right to pick up a trophy. “Well, I sure hope so. I’d never do anything like _that_ with you—”

Oikawa is quick to say, “Obviously. Same here.” The thought of doing anything remotely affectionate with this guy makes him want to puke.

“—but if it’s just homework, fine. Give me a crash course on undetectable potions and I’ll help you with your witch burning essay.”

The Slytherin regards the other boy with surprise, puzzling over how he managed to know which assignment he was struggling with the most. “How did you—”

“Anyone with ears could hear you complaining about it this afternoon in the Great Hall,” Iwaizumi answers, already anticipating the question.

Oikawa flushes slightly as he wonders if any of his professors heard him, though he tries to keep his features neutral to maintain his image. “Oh. Well, it’s a deal. You better not give me false information though.”

Iwaizumi glances at him with something unreadable in his eyes before saying, “Right back at you.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Iwaizumiiiiii.”

“What,” the Gryffindor responds in a clipped tone, his attention focused solely on the thick textbook opened in front of him as he tries to absorb as much information on vampires as he can.

“I’m booored,” Oikawa whines, slumping his head onto his sheet of parchment. “Entertain me.”

Sometimes, Iwaizumi can’t tell if he’s working on homework with the supposedly Potions genius and star seeker of the Slytherin team or unknowingly babysitting an overgrown infant.

“It’s one a.m. and we’re still not done with this vampire essay. Get to work,” Iwaizumi says firmly, glancing at his own sheet of parchment, which has been tormenting him with its mockingly blank face for the past hour. Beside him, the fire crackles cheerily, illuminating the Gryffindor common room in a soft, warm glow. They’ve been taking turns studying in each other’s common rooms after detention every night, and, thankfully, the only person to witness this arrangement is the Fat Lady, who had eyed Oikawa suspiciously the first time he visited, but said nothing. It’s not explicitly stated that they can’t enter other houses’ common rooms, but at the same time, it’s not encouraged either. Iwaizumi’s eyes flit over to Oikawa’s bag, then to the fireplace, where the dancing flames move merrily, the movement persuading the Gryffindor to just close his eyes…

✧

_“How’re we going to get back to our own rooms though? We might run into a teacher,” Iwaizumi had asked when Oikawa suggested each other’s common rooms as their study spots._

_Oikawa ran a hand through his hair and grinned mysteriously_ (that’s probably the first time I’ve seen him smile in some way other than arrogantly, _Iwaizumi thought to himself) before reaching into his bag and producing a cloak made out of sheer, silken fabric._

_“What’s that?”_ _t_ _he Gryffindor asked, puzzling over this seemingly useless piece of fabric that looked like it belonged next to the windows as a curtain._

_“An invisibility cloak!” Oikawa announced triumphantly in a hushed voice, looking past his shoulder to ensure nobody was nearby. The third-floor corridor they were currently in was deserted now that Professor Nekomata ha_ _d_ _left after dismissing them from detention, meaning the coast was clear. “You better not tell anyone about this though. My father would kill me if someone steals it.”_

_“Yeah, okay. I won’t,” Iwaizumi_ _said_ _as he trie_ _d_ _to wrap his head around the fact that Oikawa_ _had_ _just told him a secret_ and _trus_ _ted_ _him enough to not steal it or tell anyone. Or maybe this_ _was_ _another prank? To trick him into thinking_ _he would_ _be hidden as he_ _went_ _back to the Gryffindor common room and_ _get_ _caught by a teacher because it’s actually just a normal piece of fabric?_

_Seeing Iwaizumi’s look of skepticism, Oikawa_ _wrapped_ _the cloak around himself to demonstrate the authenticity. “See? It’s the real deal. I’m not lying to you.”_

_Something like relief_ _rushed_ _through Iwaizumi as he_ _watched_ _Oikawa’s head float in mid-air, finding the scene somewhat amusing. “Alright. Whose room do you want to go to first tonight?”_

_“Yours. I want to see how much worse the Gryffindor common room is compared to mine,” Oikawa answer_ _ed_ _almost immediately with a mischievous glint in his eye._

_“Well, you’ve just been uninvited,” Iwaizumi sa_ _id_ _, thinking about how natural it_ _was_ _to talk to Oikawa. He suppose_ _d_ _the Slytherin_ _wasn’t_ nearly _as insufferable when_ _it was_ _just the two of them._

_“Wow, Iwaizumi. That’s mean.”_

_“Stop dissing my house then,” Iwaizumi replie_ _d_ _as he head_ _ed_ _for the flight of stairs that would lead them to the Gryffindor Tower with Oikawa following close behind._

_Neither of them acknowledge how surreal it_ _was_ _to act almost like friends when they_ _had_ _been nothing but enemies for the past two years._

✧

“Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi?”

The Gryffindor’s eyes fly open at the sound of his own name, hastily glancing at his surroundings to realize he’s still sitting on a pillow in the common room, the blank parchment paper and textbook spread open in front of him. The fire has now died down into small embers, which alarms Iwaizumi until a clock tells him it’s still only two a.m.

“Ugh, I must have fallen asleep,” Iwaizumi mumbles as he rubs his eyes groggily, aware that Oikawa’s staring at him.

Oikawa taps his quill against the table and says, “Yeah. Figured I should wake you up before you blame me for not being able to finish your vampire essay.”

Picking up his quill, Iwaizumi says, “Thanks, I guess. Why didn’t you wake me up sooner though?” The thought of Oikawa watching him sleep makes him feel rather uncomfortable, mainly because it feels weird to be so defenseless and vulnerable in front of someone he still isn’t sure if he can call a “friend”.

“You’re much nicer to look at when that scowl isn’t marring your face,” Oikawa quips, grinning when he catches Iwaizumi glaring at him.

“Yeah well, _you’re_ much nicer to look at when you keep that stupid mouth shut.”

“So mean, Iwa-chan.”

The Gryffindor’s eyes narrow at the childish nickname and immediately scowls, which spurs another smirk from Oikawa. “What the hell is ‘Iwa-chan’?”

With huge, innocent eyes, the Slytherin answers, “Well, don’t you think ‘Iwaizumi’ is a mouthful? It’s _much_ simpler to shorten it to ‘Iwa-chan’! Sounds cute too.”

Thinking Oikawa’s probably doing this just to get a reaction out of him, Iwaizumi shakes his head and mutters, “Whatever. I’m not answering to that,” not realizing how much of a lie that is.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Do you hear that?”

Iwaizumi doesn’t even look up from his Potions assignment, thinking this is another one of Oikawa’s dumb antics. It’s odd how quickly he’s gotten accustomed to the Slytherin’s random jabs and jokes in the two months that they’ve been partaking in their nightly homework sessions. He also can’t quite believe that he’s managed to put up with Oikawa—his supposed “enemy”—for this long, though he’ll admit that the Slytherin’s not bad company when it’s just the two of them. It’s almost like Oikawa sheds his showy façade when they’re alone, and he’s reduced to just a normal boy without the sickly-sweet smiles and arrogant vibes.

“Hmm?” Iwaizumi acknowledges, just to indulge the other boy because he knows there’ll be a whining session if he doesn’t.

“There it is again!” Oikawa exclaims, his head turning back and forth in an attempt to pinpoint the commotion. “Don’t you hear the rustling?”

Iwaizumi stops writing so that the scratchy noise from his quill is gone, leaving a silent common room. “What? Where?”

“Shhh!” Oikawa orders, throwing out his arms to stop the other boy from talking. Iwaizumi strains his ears to try and hear whatever Oikawa had heard, but there’s no noise save for the crackling fire. He’s about to question the Slytherin’s hearing (“Wow, Oikawa, already becoming old and hallucinating?”) when an unmistakable rustling noise is emitted from the corner of the room, where Bokuto’s bag is left carelessly on the floor. 

Oikawa jumps up from the cushion he was sitting on and stares at the bag. “Iwa-chan! Is there a mouse?”

“Sit down, scaredy-cat. And stop calling me that,” Iwaizumi says without any real abhorrence. He gets up and heads for the corner of the room, shaking his head. “It’s probably just Gojira again. I _told_ Bokuto to stop leaving his bag lying around and to remember to close the dormitory door.”

He opens the bag and, sure enough, there’s a black-furred niffler gleefully cramming galleons into its pouch. Iwaizumi skillfully picks up the little guy and turns him upside down while holding onto the feet, then proceeds to shake him until galleons and sickles and knuts rain down into the bag.

“ _Gojira_. How many times do I have to tell you to stop stealing Bokuto’s money? And you _know_ you’re not supposed to come down here without me,” Iwaizumi mutters as he waves his wand to pack the money neatly back into his friend’s bookbag. He decides to keep the niffler next to him for the night to keep an eye on him, so he slumps back down onto the cushion and places Gojira onto the table, giving the niffler a stern look as a silent command to stay out of trouble.

“Is… is that the niffler from last year?”

Iwaizumi blinks at Oikawa, having momentarily forgotten that the niffler that’s now his beloved pet was meant to be a prank from the Slytherin. “Oh yeah, yeah. I kept him after your little stunt. He’s usually quite well-behaved, but I guess he’s been bored. I haven’t taken him outside in a while since I’ve been so busy.”

Oikawa looks at the little creature with something like wonder and fondness. “And his name is…?”

“Gojira.”

“Why?” The Slytherin extends a hand towards the niffler, who looks at it with curiosity.

Iwaizumi’s about to make fun of Oikawa for not knowing who Godzilla is until he remembers that the pureblood grew up in a magical household, meaning he’d be unfamiliar with muggle pop culture.

“Oh, it’s from a movie.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s like, a set of moving pictures that tells a story. Kind of like the photos here, but much longer and they have complete plots,” Iwaizumi explains, feeling a sense of nostalgia. Honestly, it’s been so long since he’s watched a movie. Daichi and Bokuto talked about going to the cinema together when they go home for Christmas this year to watch the new Disney film (Bokuto’s insistence—Iwaizumi would rather watch the new Marvel film), and he makes a mental note to ask them in the morning if they’re still up for it.

“Oh. And this Gojira is from a movie?” Oikawa asks, curiosity lacing his words. He’s now focusing completely on Iwaizumi, leaving the niffler alone to groom its fur.

The Gryffindor scratches the back of his neck and scrawls a few words before answering, “Yeah. The English name’s Godzilla. Gojira’s the Japanese name, which is how I’ve always known the character since I watched it back home when I was young. It’s my favorite movie, actually.”

Oikawa’s silent for a moment before he comments, “Maybe I should’ve taken muggle studies.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what you want to know,” Iwaizumi finds himself saying as he finishes writing the last sentence of the essay.

“What’s this? Is Iwa-chan being nice to me for once?” Oikawa coos, a teasing grin on his face. Scowling, Iwaizumi throws a quill at the other boy, who ducks to the side while Gojira stares at them with interest.

“I can take back my offer if you’re gonna be annoying about it.”

“No! I want to know what we-fly is!”

Iwaizumi stares at the Slytherin for a moment before it clicks. “Do you mean… Wi-Fi?”

“Yes, that thing. Is that some kind of food? I remember hearing a bunch of first-years complaining about no Wi-Fi at the start of the year feast.”

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes but explains with patience, eventually using his entire fifteen-minute break that he allocates for himself whenever he finishes an assignment to describe various muggle things.

(“What are those computer things I always hear Hanamaki and Matsukawa talking about?”

“It’s like a device that can store data, like words that you type and photos. There’re also other functions like dictionaries, music, and if you’re connected to the internet, you can use search engines to look up stuff.”

“So you can just search up _anything_?”

“Yeah, basically”

“What? Why are we even using these dusty, thick textbooks, then?”

“See, that’s why not everything in the Wizarding World is better.”

“Nope, Iwa-chan. You can’t argue with self-heating milk bread. What are rubber ducks for though? One of the first years brought a rubber duck and refuses to take a bath without it.”

“… To keep you company in the bath.”

“I’ll never understand these weird muggle quirks. Like how some muggleborn was complaining about there being no Wi-Fi here to post a picture onto Intheram!”

“Yeah, people are obsessed with taking pictures and posting them to Instagram so their followers and sometimes strangers can see them.”

“Wow, so if I post a picture onto Instergam, there could be _millions_ of people seeing my picture?”

“Yeah. That’s also why I’m making sure you never get Instagram. The percentage of the global population with eye problems would increase so much.”)

After Oikawa’s questions are all answered, Iwaizumi sets his Potions assignment aside and takes out a fresh sheet of parchment for his Charms homework. His hand hovers at the top as he’s about to write the date, then realizes there’s only a week left until Christmas holidays and the end of his detention sentence. The Gryffindor glances up at the Slytherin, who’s now trying to pet Gojira (who keeps wiggling away to evade his hand), and something wistful stirs in his gut. Are they still going to do homework together after detention ends? Or are they going to revert back to what they were before, with the jeers and pranks and being enemies?

Iwaizumi shakes his head and scowls at himself. Why is he even thinking about this? He should be glad to get rid of Oikawa. Except… he’ll admit he’s gotten a teeny tiny bit attached to the Slytherin in the past few months. He’s gotten used to throwing teasing remarks around about each other’s brain size and Quidditch skills, sticking their feet and hands as close to the fireplace as possible on the particularly cold nights (and laughing when Oikawa singed the tip of his socks), sneaking sweets and tarts out of the Great Hall during dinner and sharing them in the common room, and games of wizard chess and exploding snap during their breaks from homework.

_Only a little bit though,_ Iwaizumi repeats to himself.

_Only a little bit._

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Hey.”

Iwaizumi stops staring at the cat in one of the paintings who’s trying to knock a biscuit off the table and turns just in time to watch Oikawa emerge from the Slytherin common room.

“Hey,” Iwaizumi returns. He shifts awkwardly on his feet and looks down at the bag he holds in his hand. “How was your break?”

“It was good,” the Slytherin answers slowly, as if trying to decipher an underlying meaning behind Iwaizumi’s words. “I got a new broomstick and spent some time with my parents.”

“That’s good to hear,” Iwaizumi replies automatically, wondering why he’s even doing this. He doesn’t owe Oikawa anything, and now that their detention days are over, they have more than enough time to work on homework with their own friends. Still, he finds himself clearing his throat and thrusting the bag out, its contents rattling from the movement.

“Here.” Oikawa’s eyes fall onto the bag. “You said that you’ve never watched a movie before, and I found my old laptop over the break and some DVDs, so… I thought you might want to try.” Iwaizumi finishes his sentence with his head angled away, like this isn’t a big gesture at all and something completely normal to do for him.

In reality, he had agonized over this for days when he was home, staring at his laptop for so long he felt like he might burn a hole in it. As soon as he saw his laptop sitting on his desk, he thought of the wonder in Oikawa’s eyes when he talked about movies that night in the Gryffindor common room, and the thought kept relentlessly nagging him from the back of his mind throughout the break. He supposes it’s abnormal to do this for someone he isn’t even sure he can call a friend, but he finds himself _wanting_ to show Oikawa something special from his muggle life.

Oikawa takes the bag and opens it cautiously, like he’s expecting something to jump out. His expression morphs into confusion at the sight of the unfamiliar gadgets, so Iwaizumi quickly adds, “I’ll show you how to use the laptop, of course, and I brought Godzilla, along with some other popular movies I thought you might like. But I understand if you don’t want to—”

“No, no,” Oikawa interrupts, holding the bag like he doesn’t quite know what to do with it. “It’s… Thank you, Iwa-chan. I can’t wait to see the actual Gojira.”

The Slytherin says it with such sincerity that Iwaizumi feels something squeeze his heart for a moment before it dissipates as quickly as it came. “No worries,” he says, opting to ignore his internal turmoil. “I figured I should educate you on the greatest movie character to ever exist, since you’re so uncultured.”

“Wow, so mean, Iwa-chan. I don’t want to watch your stupid movies anymore!”

The two bicker back and forth for a while with the men in one of the supper paintings egging them on until the Slytherin common room door swings open again, and Hanamaki and Matsukawa appear.

“Thought I heard Oikawa’s annoyingly whiny voice from inside,” Matsukawa drawls, eyes flickering between the two of them. Hanamaki regards the two of them with the same lazy expression, though Iwaizumi swears the pink haired Slytherin’s eyes linger on him a lot longer than should be socially acceptable.

“Mattsun! Iwa-chan was just being mean and now you?” Oikawa whines, basically proving Matsukawa’s point. Iwaizumi doesn’t miss the glance between the renowned Slytherin troublemaker duo at the name _Iwa-chan_ , and the weight in that single look makes Iwaizumi feel like he’s missing something.

“I can join in too, if you want,” Hanamaki says with a cheeky smirk. Oikawa’s about to say something else when Matsukawa cuts in with a wave of his hand.

“Atsumu’s about to challenge his brother to a race on the Quidditch pitch. You wanna come? There’ll be betting pools.”

Oikawa’s eyes brighten like they always do whenever Qudditch is mentioned. “Sure!” He turns to Iwaizumi and says in a lower voice, “Uh… do you want to meet up tonight then? So you can show me how to use the… the lamptop?”

“Laptop,” Iwaizumi corrects automatically as a wave of relief rushes through him. He isn’t even sure what he’s relieved about. “And yeah, sure. Your room then?”

“Okay.” Neither of them move for a moment, and Iwaizumi’s well aware of Oikawa’s two best friends observing them.

“Um, maybe you can also help me with the essay on the goblin wars?” Oikawa adds, voice even quieter as he leans in closer to the Gryffindor.

Iwaizumi looks away. “Yeah, sure.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

They’re lying on the grass next to the Great Lake on a Thursday afternoon, basking in the sunlight and enjoying the fresh air when they watch _Alien_ together at Oikawa’s insistence. It’s the first sunny day they’ve had in a while, so they picked this more secluded spot near the lake to study—until Oikawa came up with the brilliant idea to watch a movie together so Iwaizumi can explain all the muggle stuff that comes up.

By the time the credits roll on the screen, Oikawa’s still staring, laser-focused at the screen like he has for the past hour or so, ever since the alien started its killing spree. Iwaizumi himself is only partially watching the movie, his concentration mostly on the reactions of the Slytherin next to him.

“Sorry, Iwa-chan, but that was a lot better than Godzilla,” Oikawa says after Iwaizumi ejects the DVD and shuts down the laptop.

Scoffing, Iwaizumi replies, “You just have no taste. Only a dimwit would pick that disgusting alien over the great and mighty Godzilla, which says a lot about you.”

“That alien was so cool though! Unlike Godzilla, who just swipes at a few buildings and then gets killed by the oxygen destroyer.”

“Godzilla would use its atomic heat beam on you if it heard you say that.”

“Well, the alien would infiltrate you and burst from your chest!”

Iwaizumi shakes his head in mock exasperation and says, _you’d be such a nerd in the muggle world_ , ignoring Oikawa’s demands to explain that statement.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Oh boy, here we go again,” Daichi mumbles under his breath as Oikawa slides open their compartment door. He exchanges a glance with Suga, who also seems to be preparing himself for the roasting competition about to occur.

What they _didn’t_ expect is for Oikawa to hold out a bag towards Iwaizumi and say, without any trace of malice or mockery, “Thanks for lending me this.”

Iwaizumi clears his throat and tries to ignore the baffled stares coming from his three travelling companions. “Uh, sure. It was no problem.”

Both Oikawa and Iwaizumi hesitate for a minute, as if neither of them knows what else to say, until Oikawa steps backward and says, “Well, don’t do anything stupid over the summer holidays, Iwa-chan, even though I know that’s gonna be extremely difficult for you.”

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes as something eases in his stomach at the familiar teasing. “You’re one to talk, Crappykawa.”

Oikawa smirks before sliding the door close, leaving behind a silent compartment.

Finally, Suga blurts out, “Crappykawa? _Iwa-chan?_ Am I missing something here? _”_

“No!” Iwaizumi hastily replies. “We just did homework together because we had detention.”

Suga looks at him expectantly.

“… and I lent him my laptop so he could watch movies because he was interested.”

The Hufflepuff keeps staring at him.

“… _and_ I watched a few with him,” Iwaizumi finishes.

“Ah, that’s why you disappeared sometimes,” Daichi says, nodding to himself like he’s just solved a troubling mystery.

“Oh? You guys are finally getting along?” Suga asks, looking pleased.

“Only because we were forced to. We’re not friends.”

“Really?” Suga presses, leaning forward to regard Iwaizumi with a knowing look that makes the Gryffindor feel like his soul is being dissected.

“ _Yes_ ,” Iwaizumi replies forcefully. “Oikawa said that he likes _Alien_ more than _Godzilla_! Can you believe it? How can I ever be friends with someone like that?”

“Hmmm,” is all that Suga says as Daichi and Bokuto launch into an argument over which movie is better.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

_4th year_

“Congratulations, Suga!”

Iwaizumi grins as he approaches the silver-haired captain with Daichi, the victorious cheers and shouts filling the courtyard deafening to his ears.

Suga beams as he catches sight of the two of them and peels away from the rest of his team, who’re the center of attention among the Hufflepuffs. “Thank you! Though I’ll have to give most of the credit to my team, of course. The race between Kageyama and Oikawa was really close towards the end. Ah, and here he is!”

Kageyama nods to the two Gryffindors as a greeting (though his signature scowl remains in place), one hand holding a flask of pumpkin juice and the other still carrying his broomstick. Another boy, whom Iwaizumi recognizes as one of the chasers, follows behind, telling Suga, “Can someone inform Asahi that it’s not illegal to have butterbeer in the dormitories if you don’t get caught? I think he’s about to have an heart attack after someone mentioned bringing in their secret butterbeer stock for the celebratory party.”

“Typical Asahi,” Suga comments with a grin before turning to address Daichi. “You want to come? There’ll be quite a few people from other houses, so you don’t have to worry about intruding.”

“Oh, I would love to, but I was going to—” Daichi starts to say.

“What he means is, he would love to come,” Iwaizumi interjects, knowing Daichi is itching to go with Suga. He pats his friend on the arm and says, “I’ll take care of cleaning our gear for next week’s game. Go enjoy the party.”

“Are you sure? Do you want to go? We can just do that this weekend—”

Iwaizumi shakes his head adamantly. “Nah, it’s okay. I know you’ve got a test to study for over the weekend.”

After five more minutes of reassuring Daichi he’s completely fine with this arrangement—heck, he’s volunteering for this because he knows Daichi just wants to be alone with Suga (they sure aren’t going to be at the party the entire time)—Iwaizumi makes his way back to the Quidditch pitch, the bleachers now only occupied by the occasional leaf. He feels a sudden wave of serenity at the sight of an empty field, with only the grass rustling slightly in the breeze.

The Gryffindor’s relishing the peacefulness when a sniffle catches his attention, coming from behind the bleachers. Even though it’s not his business, he finds himself heading in the direction to investigate anyway.

“Oikawa?” Iwaizumi asks tentatively when a familiar figure dressed in green and silver robes comes into sight, a broomstick and a pair of quidditch gloves lying on the field at his feet.

“Go away,” Oikawa says curtly, though it lacks any real bite.

“What’s wrong?”

He lets out a dry chuckle. “ _What’s wrong?_ Should I remind you how little Quidditch prodigy Tobio-chan just snatched the snitch from right under my nose?”

Iwaizumi’s dislike (or… indifference? He isn’t even sure where he and Oikawa stand now after last year) towards this Slytherin instantly dissipates as he watches the great Oikawa Tooru become broken and vulnerable in front of him.

“I should have done better. I’ve let my team down and—”

“Stop, stop,” Iwaizumi interrupts firmly, causing the other boy to look up at him. “Do you think you’re fighting by yourself? The team with the better seven is stronger, dumbass! Today’s match just means that you have to work harder with your team to get where you want to be. It wasn’t a reflection of your own value and skills.”

“Iwa-chan…” Oikawa mumbles, tears still trickling down. “But today was the last match of the year… that was my last chance to show my father that I _can_ become a professional Quidditch player, that it’s not just some ridiculous dream.”

“Your team won against Ravenclaw back in January _and_ you’ve literally been ranked consistently in the top three for _most likely to play Quidditch professionally_ in the school paper. What more does your father want?” Iwaizumi asks incredulously, knowing that along with Ushijima and Kageyama, Oikawa’s one of the best of the best players they have at Hogwarts. He also knows that Oikawa doesn’t get his skills from innate talent like the other two, having spied the Slytherin practicing alone on the pitch during most evenings. It’s hard work and sheer determination that’s gotten him where he is.

“Well, he’s still living the dream of having an Auror as a son, despite how often I’ve told him I don’t want to be stuck working an office job,” Oikawa mutters, clenching his fists. “He sent an owl this morning, telling me all the classes I should pick for O.W.L.s next year. I’m just so sick of being his puppet, of being a perfect son just so our family can maintain the pureblood prestige.”

Iwaizumi feels a wave of sympathy for the boy standing before him as another layer of the great Oikawa Tooru is peeled back; a layer of family expectations.

“Don’t ever let anyone doubt your own value, idiot. You’re worth much more than your father’s expectations.”

“Did Iwa-chan just pay me a compliment?” Oikawa asks teasingly as he wipes at his eyes. “I must cherish this moment.”

Iwaizumi scowls and mutters, “I’m just telling the truth.”

The two boys stand silently for a moment, both feeling the tangible boundary line that they’re somehow crossing, until Oikawa breaks the moment.

“If you tell anyone about this, I’ll hex you,” the Slytherin threatens, trying his best to look serious with his red-rimmed eyes and tousled hair.

“We’ll see about that,” Iwaizumi replies with a smirk, though they both know he’s not one to talk. “Well, I’ve got to go make sure Bokuto hasn’t broken his bed or fireplace or something again. Are you going to be okay?”

Oikawa nods and Iwaizumi flashes a slight smile before turning to head back to the castle. As the Slytherin watches Iwaizumi’s retreating figure, something unexplainable stirs in his chest.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“…Okay, but how do you know if you _actually_ _like_ this person or if it’s just a feeling of surprise because this person isn’t what you thought they’d be like?”

Oikawa lies on his bed with his arms sprawled out like a starfish, consulting his personal (amateur) therapists Hanamaki and Matsukawa, who are both seated on the latter’s bed playing a game of wizard’s chess neither of them are taking seriously.

“This seems like a _really_ specific situation, Oikawa,” Matsukawa drawls. “Are you _sure_ this isn’t about Mr. Gryffindor?” He’s just spent the past ten minutes listening to Oikawa’s bombardment of questions that are so obviously about a certain Gryffindor, he might as well have _Iwaizumi_ stamped on his forehead because that’s all his thoughts seem to be about.

“No!” Oikawa squawks, shooting up into a sitting position with a horrified look. His two best friends give him their most impressive deadpan looks, and Oikawa mutters, “Okay, maybe,” before flopping back down.

“Maybe?” Hanamaki repeats with a raised eyebrow as one of his knights knocks out Matsukawa’s remaining bishop. “I mean, you’ve spent the past ten minutes complaining about your conflicting feelings for someone because of their surprisingly gentle and caring nature and how you have to admit they’re also kind of hot—”

“Makki! I said _not hideously deformed_!”

“Same thing. _That_ in Oikawa-speak is equivalent to saying _hottest person on earth_ ,” Matsukawa says. “And we know it’s Iwaizumi because you would already be making out with this person in the fourth-floor broom closet if it were anybody else.”

“That’s not true!”

“ _Really?_ ” Hanamaki questions, knowing full well why Oikawa’s stressing over this one person so much when he has hordes of fangirls literally stampeding over everyone else to shower him in gifts every damn day. “So you’re saying you’re _not_ agonizing over a guy for the first time because Iwaizumi hasn’t shown an inkling of interest in you and you think you do towards him?”

Oikawa sits up instantly with wide eyes and his hair sticking out messily in all directions, the scene almost comical to the two boys sitting on the adjacent bed. “No! I don’t like Iwa-chan. How could I? He’s my enemy!” Oikawa frantically protests.

Hanamaki and Matsukawa exchange a knowing look, aware that they’ve just hit a nerve. “Are you telling us, or convincing yourself?” Matsukawa asks lazily after directing his rook to B3. “Because it seems as if you and him have progressed into acquaintances or even _friends_ a long time ago.”

“What? No!” Oikawa splutters, appalled at the thought of being labelled as _friends_ with Iwaizumi.

Except… do friends do homework together? Comfort each other? And what about last year, when Iwa-chan gave him the lamptop or something with the movies so that he could watch them? Would enemies or even mere acquaintances do that?

Oikawa is so, so confused.

“Look at him. I can see those rusty brain cogs turning.”

“Yep. Look at that wondrous epiphany taking place right now,” Hanamaki says, then heaves an exaggerated sigh when one of Matsukawa’s knights takes out one of his rooks.

“Do I… _like_ Iwa-chan?” Oikawa whispers to himself, though his best friends hear it, of course. They’ve been waiting for this moment since Oikawa came back from the match looking all dishevelled and troubled, ranting about his definitely-not-feelings for someone.

“Ah, he _finally_ gets it, Hiro. Aren’t you proud our little son is growing up?”

Hanamaki pretends to wipe away a tear. “I know, Issei, they grow up so fast. Our son’s having his first awakening!”

The two continue to exchange jokes until Oikawa whines, “Makkiiiiii, Mattsunnnn what should I doooo? I can’t _like_ Iwa-chan!”

“Except you do,” Hanamaki chirps and Matsukawa nods in agreement.

Oikawa glares at them. “Whatever! Just be a good friend and tell me what I should do.”

“Well, are you going to tell him a—”

“No!”

“Okay, well, don’t you think you should show _some_ interest so if he’ll know you’re interested and either like you back or reject you?” Hanamaki suggests.

“Makki, I just told you I _don’t_ want Iwa-chan to know!”

“But what if Iwaizumi _is_ interested? If you try to act like he’s nothing more than the dirt under your shoe, he won’t show any interest either!”

Oikawa lets the statement sink in. Why does Hanamaki’s logic _almost_ make sense?

“But he _isn’t_ interested, so what do I do?”

Hanamaki shakes his head in exasperation and pops a piece of crystallized pineapple into his mouth. “How do you know if he’s interested or not? Maybe he’s having this exact same conversation with his friends in the Gryffindor common room right now.”

“Wait, wait, but shouldn’t you play hard to get?” Matsukawa asks while motioning for Hanamaki to pass him the box of pineapples. “I thought that was the craze these days.”

“Ohhh yeah,” Hanamaki says, then runs a hand through his bubblegum-pink hair. “Hmm, should Oikawa play hard to get or let his true, hopeless feelings shine through? But Issei, do you _really_ think Oikawa here is capable of playing it cool? I mean, think back to that time in first year when he tried to act cool with those fourth year girls.”

Oikawa immediately starts whining, but his two friends manage to ignore him and continue their conversation thanks to the anti-Oikawa’s whining filter they’ve developed over the past few years.

“I see your point, Hiro. So, Oikawa really should just confess his passionate love for Iwaizumi.”

“Yeah, don’t you think he should do it during a Quidditch match? Maybe magic his broomstick to leave behind a trail of white like those airplanes—”

“What the hell is an airplane?” Oikawa demands like he does whenever his two half-blood friends bring up some muggle thing.

“—and he can fly across the sky and spell out the words _WILL YOU MARRY ME, IWA-CHAN_ while we blast the wedding march in the background!”

“Oh, I can visualize it so beautifully right now, Hiro. Except, do you think Oikawa can pull off those letters? In my mind, I see him falling off his broom when he tries to write those _R_ ’s.”

“Hmm, you’re right. We might have to glue his butt to the broomstick beforehand—”

“And stuff him into a nice tux—”

“And clear the field so he and Iwaizumi can have a grand kiss—”

“MAKKIIIIIII, MATTSUUUUUUN!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa greets loudly from the other end of the third-floor corridor. The Gryffindor in question awkwardly grimaces at the people shooting him a mix of curious and weird looks right now, silently wishing he could just disappear through the wall like a ghost.

“Crappykawa, can you stop calling me that in public?” Iwaizumi hisses when he gets closer to the Slytherin. Bokuto and Daichi are standing on the side as they continue their conversation on their strategy for the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match while also pretending not to eavesdrop.

“But it’s cute!”

Iwaizumi heaves a sigh, knowing that the other boy won’t drop the nickname no matter how many times he asks him to. “Did you call me for a reason?”

For some reason, Oikawa seems to falter and… is it just a trick of light, or is there a faint _blush_ dusting the Slytherin’s cheeks? Iwaizumi’s still puzzling over this sudden shyness from the infamously overly confident Oikawa when the boy clears his throat.

“Um, I just wanted to say, uh, nice socks.”

Iwaizumi looks down reflexively and mumbles, “Thanks?” He has no idea what’s going on. Is this some kind of joke? Is Oikawa making fun of his Godzilla-patterned socks?

Before he has a chance to dwell on this, though, Oikawa mutters something barely audible about being late for his astronomy lesson and hurries off, leaving behind a baffled Iwaizumi and two equally confused Gryffindors.

✧

“Makki, you don’t understand,” Oikawa moans, slumping his head onto the dinner table and narrowly missing his plate of steak. “I literally complimented his _socks_! Have I lost my touch already?”

“Is this a bad time to tell you that you never had the touch in the first place?” Matsukawa pipes up through a mouth full of bread pudding.

“Mattsun! I’m going through a _crisis_ and you’re _still_ being mean to me?”

Hanamaki points a fork at his friend next to him and nods in agreement. “You’re right Issei. Remember that time Oikawa tried to compliment a girl by telling her that her hair was lovely and luxurious like a _mop_?”

“Makki! That was during first year! Will you two just stop making fun of me and tell me what to do now?” Oikawa grumbles and stabs at a piece of steak half-heartedly.

“You keep trying, obviously,” Hanamaki says. “See, I told you you should’ve gone with our great Quidditch pitch marriage proposal.”

“Nah, Hiro. I don’t think the marriage would last long when Oikawa’s way of flirting is telling someone they have nice socks.”

Oikawa buries his face into his arms, wondering why he ever became friends with these two idiots in the first place.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Nice socks.”

Iwaizumi scowls as Daichi enters the dormitory and flings his robes (which are within arm’s reach) at the boy grinning cheekily.

“Hey, no need to get all violent. I’m just paying you a compliment,” Daichi protests with his hands held up under the robe, giving Iwaizumi the impression of a ghost.

“Yeah, well, shut up about it already,” Iwaizumi mumbles as he glances at his socks, which are now crimson with gold stripes.

“It shows a lot of house spirit. I wonder what Oikawa would say if he saw them.”

“ _Oikawa_ would probably insult them and brag about how much better of a house Slytherin is,” Iwaizumi replies as he slumps his head back down onto his bed and stares up at the ceiling. “Anyway, I have no idea why he said that today, so stop bringing it up.”

Daichi pulls off the robe and drapes it neatly on one of the chairs before loosening his tie. “Well, maybe he’s just paying his _friend_ a compliment.”

“We’re not friends,” Iwaizumi denies automatically with a sour face.

“Really?” Daichi asks skeptically. “Not even after all your homework sessions last year? And your movie dates?”

“ _Yes_ , we’re not friends. And they’re not dates!” While it’s true that their relationship has drastically improved from their enemy-like state in the first two years, Iwaizumi’s pretty sure they classify less as friends and more like two people who begrudgingly put up with each other and even occasionally enjoy each other’s company. But only _occasionally_. “I’ll admit that he’s not as annoying as I thought he would be, but we’re _definitely_ not friends.”

Even to himself, Iwaizumi thinks that his words sound a little forced. He recalls the hours whittled away at detention arguing with Oikawa about everything from the best confectionary to the lamest spell, the nights spent together in front of the Gryffindor common room fireplace munching away on snacks they had snuck out of the Great Hall, the lazy afternoons spent next to the lake laughing and bantering over the movies they watched…

Iwaizumi remembers how relaxed, comfortable, and _happy_ he had felt with Oikawa ( _only sometimes_ , he reminds himself), and he doesn’t know how to deal with this. Is he… starting to feel something?

The Gryffindor rolls over and buries his face in his pillow, willing the thoughts to go away. What is he even thinking about? _Of course_ he doesn’t feel anything for Oikawa. They’re not even friends!

“Iwaizumi? Are you alright?”

“Hm?” the boy hums as he rolls back onto his back, pretending that he didn’t just experience a mini-crisis. “I’m fine, just tired.”

He senses Daichi giving him a dubious look, but he stubbornly ignores it and continues staring upwards instead. Soon after, Bokuto and Ushijima return, and they all bid their _goodnight_ ’s before the light is switched off. Almost immediately, Bokuto’s snores fill the room.

Iwaizumi lies awake and stares up at the ceiling into the early hours of the morning.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa greets as he falls into step next to the Gryffindor on the busy streets of Hogsmeade. In the month or so after that conversation with his two friends in the dormitory, he’s found a way to talk to Iwaizumi every day. He thinks he might even be getting better at getting rid of his slight interest in Iwaizumi. Hanamaki and Matsukawa didn’t seem to believe him at all when he said he had misunderstood his feelings for Iwaizumi, but whatever. Oikawa is _sure_ he doesn’t feel anything except for sweet, pure, innocent friendship.

“Crappykawa,” Iwaizumi returns as he keeps weaving through the crowd. Oikawa’s worried that Iwaizumi isn’t in the mood to talk, but then notices how the Gryffindor has slowed his pace considerably so that the Slytherin can keep up.

“Where’re Sawamura-chan and Bo-chan today?” Oikawa asks, genuinely interested.

“With Suga and Akaashi.”

“Oh? Did poor Iwa-chan get ditched?”

Iwaizumi scowls and says, “No. I just need to buy something from Honeydukes, so I told them I’d meet up with them later.”

Oikawa’s mind immediately jumps to a million possibilities, over half of them involving a girl. Is Iwaizumi buying something for a girl, and that’s why he didn’t ask his friends to go with him? So he wouldn’t be teased? Surely, he’d just go with his friends if he's really just shopping for himself, right? There must be some girl. Maybe someone he wants to confess to, or someone who confessed to him and now they’re dating and Iwaizumi’s being a good boyfriend by—

“Oikawa?”

The boy snaps out of the rabbit hole of thoughts and plasters on a bright smile. “Sorry, got distracted. What did you say?”

“I asked, where’re your friends? Did _you_ get ditched?”

“Haha, what? Of course not! The great Oikawa-sama would _never_ be ditched.” Oikawa tries not to think about how his two best friends are probably at Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop sipping earl grey, being blissfully happy. They’d invited him to go along with them, but Oikawa declined. Maybe they’ll finally figure out their ridiculously obvious feelings for each other. For two people who tried so hard to get Oikawa to propose on the Quidditch field and basically confess his ( _most definitely nonexistent_ ) feelings right away, Hanamaki and Matsukawa sure are slow at dealing with their own feelings. “They wanted to go to Madam Paddifoot’s today, but I told them to go ahead without me. Can you imagine how many couples in there would break up once all those girls lay their eyes on me?”

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes and retorts, “Yeah, you’d ruin the male population for those poor girls forever.”

They keep talking (arguing) all the way to Honeydukes, and Oikawa still finds it odd how stupidly _easy_ their conversations are. Their banter feels just as natural as the banter between him and Hanamaki and Matsukawa, and their silences aren’t awkward at all like they usually are with other people. Oikawa tries not to dwell on the implications because he doesn’t want to open a can of worms.

(“Want me to go into Gladrags Wizardwear and get you a pair of those socks that scream when they’re too smelly? Though I suppose they’ll always be screaming if you’re the one wearing them.”

“So _mean_ , Iwa-chan! I’ll have you know that my feet smell perfectly nice!”

“Do you… Do you smell your own feet?”)

When they reach Honeydukes, Oikawa’s once again reminded of the suspected mystery girl and tries not to sound too accusing as he asks, “So, are you buying for yourself or…”

Iwaizumi places a box of exploding bonbons back onto the shelf and answers, “Nah, it’s for Ichika.”

Oikawa immediately feels a surge of dislike for the pigtailed Gryffindor girl with a perpetual smile and a sunny attitude. He’s not really sure why he’s feeling this way though. After all, he is _not_ falling for Iwaizumi. Still, the Slytherin tries not to let the bitterness seep into his voice as he says, “Oh? A gift for a girl? Want me to help you pick? After all, I _am_ a love expert.”

“Really?” Iwaizumi challenges with a raised eyebrow, turning his gaze from the cauldron cakes to the self-proclaimed love expert. “Is that why your girlfriend dumped you last year for being more in love with Quidditch than her?”

“Her loss,” Oikawa asserts with a shrug, then picks up a box of jelly slugs. “How about this, Iwa-chan? Doesn’t this seem like a great gift?”

Iwaizumi eyes the box skeptically and replies, “Yeah, for you, definitely.”

“What? Why just me?”

“You are what you eat.”

“Iwa-chan! How dare you!”

The two boys wander around the store, with Oikawa chiming in suggestions with the enthusiasm of a sales associate. Iwaizumi wouldn’t be surprised if the Slytherin secretly worked here, with how much effort he’s putting into trying to sell these products to Iwaizumi.

“What about these?” Oikawa asks, shoving a box of treacle fudge into the Gryffindor’s face.

Iwaizumi pushes the box away immediately. “Haven’t eaten fudge since first year.”

The implication sinks into Oikawa as the talons of bad thoughts grab hold of his mind. He remembers vividly buying that box of fever fudge from a prank shop, thinking it would just make Iwaizumi miss a class or two. What he _didn’t_ know was how hard it was to recover without the antidote (which he had withheld and thrown away), and Iwaizumi ended up missing two days of classes. A wave of shame and guilt crashes over him as he reflects on the immaturity and cruelty of his actions.

Before he can open his mouth to issue the long-overdue apology, however, a group of girls swarm him, asking for autographs and pictures. He’s gotten used to this now that his achievements as Slytherin’s star seeker have appeared in the newspapers a few times, so he cheerfully agrees and tells Iwaizumi he’ll be back in a moment.

A moment somehow turns into ten minutes because a group of Ravenclaw second years come up right after the first group leaves, and by the time Oikawa’s done, Iwaizumi is already waiting nearby with a bag looped around his right wrist.

“Finally done with your meet and greet?”

Oikawa can’t help but smile at the warm, teasing tone. “Yeah, let me tell you, it’s hard being famous.”

The two are about to exit the shop when Iwaizumi reaches out to grab Oikawa’s sleeve. The Slytherin feels a jolt in his heart at the contact ( _it’s because he caught me by surprise,_ he tells himself) and watches as Iwaizumi grabs something out of the bag.

“Here.”

Oikawa takes the box of jelly slugs with confusion and blurts out without thinking, “Why are you showing me your present for your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend? What? I was buying a birthday present for Ichika.”

Something eases in Oikawa’s stomach. “Oh. Why are you showing me her birthday present then?”

“Dumbkawa,” Iwaizumi says as he flicks Oikawa’s forehead, who yelps _ouch_. “It’s for you. A slug for a slug.”

“I guess I’ll have to get you a gorilla then, Iwa-chan. Where would I even get a dumb, tiny gorilla like you though— ouch, wait, Iwa-chan! Let’s talk this out like mature adults!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

_5th year_

“Do you smell anything?”

Iwaizumi puts his nose as close to the cauldron as he can without planting face-first into it, yet he _still_ can’t smell anything except for the sweet citrus scent of the Slytherin next to him. How much cologne does this guy even spray? Does he bathe in it?

“No. Are you _sure_ you followed the instructions correctly?” Iwaizumi asks skeptically as he picks up his textbook to reread the recipe. It just so happens that one of his housemates is sick today, and one of the Slytherins ditched class for some unknown reason. As such, the odd number of students in each house meant that there had to be one inter-house pair, and of course, Iwaizumi is the lucky guy to be picked by Professor Irihata to work with Oikawa. Just because they’ve become _somewhat_ friends doesn’t mean Oikawa’s still not a whiny annoying baby sometimes, _and_ he’s always harder to handle when there are other students around (Iwaizumi suspects it has something to do with Oikawa’s pride in maintaining his reputation). To make matters worse, they’re brewing Amortentia today, and Iwaizumi really isn’t in the mood for Oikawa’s teasing about his nonexistent love life (“ _Not everyone has an army of fangirls to pick from, Crappykawa_ ”).

Oikawa wrinkles his nose, offended. “Of course. I’ve never failed any of my potions before.” He stares at the cauldron in confusion, wondering why he can’t seem to smell anything different either. The liquid’s glowing with a mother-of-pearl sheen and emitting spiraling steam, which is exactly what the textbook says the final product should be like, yet there doesn’t seem to be that alluring scent it’s supposed to give off. Admittedly, Oikawa does smell the seductive pine and earthy aroma that Iwaizumi always seems to smell of (not that he would ever disclose this information), but that’s definitely just because the Gryffindor is right next to him.

Iwaizumi shoots Oikawa a look, then mutters, “Well, I think I can smell a hint of something like cherry blossoms and soy sauce, but it’s barely there because your dumb cologne is so overpowering.”

There’s a crash from the worktable next to them, and both boys turn to see Hanamaki staring at them with a shattered glass container at his feet. Instead of making fun of his partner, Matsukawa stares at Oikawa and Iwaizumi with the same surprised yet excited expression, like he’s anticipating something.

“Makki, you clumsy radish!” Oikawa exclaims, which seems to jolt both boys out of the trance, and Hanamaki hastily retrieves his wand to clean up the mess. Matsukawa eyes Iwaizumi one last time before turning to tease Hanamaki, leaving the Gryffindor feeling like he’s missing something. Honestly, Oikawa’s two best friends _always_ leave him feeling like there’s something he’s not noticing.

Iwaizumi hears the pair of girls behind him excitedly discussing the aromas they smell, which makes him turn towards Oikawa and hiss, “Why is everyone else’s fine?”

“Don’t ask _me_ , Iwa-chan. And you’re blaming _my_ cologne?” Oikawa waves an accusing finger at the Gryffindor. “ _Your_ smell is so strong it’s suffocating. I’m probably going to die from it, and everyone will hate you for murdering the great Oikawa-san.”

“You’re one to talk, Loserkawa. Your lack of brain cells is what’s killing me here. How did you mess up this potion? I thought you’re supposed to be _good_ at this.”

“Shut up, Iwa-chan. Maybe _you’re_ the one who messed up when you added the peppermint and rose thorns.”

“I know I didn’t. I measured everything twice!”

“Yeah, well, I know _I_ didn’t mess up. I followed everything the instructions said!”

“Then why the hell is your funky cologne the only thing I’m smelling?”

“I don’t _know_! Why am I only smelling your dirty grassy smell then?”

Iwaizumi’s about to reply when he realizes the room has descended into silence, everyone having apparently abandoned their tasks at hand to stare at the pair. He immediately ducks his head, feeling uneasy about all the attention, though he does catch Daichi’s and Bokuto’s looks of amusement from one of the worktables in the back.

Luckily, the professor addresses the whole class, sparing Iwaizumi the embarrassment of having the entire class observing him.

“Everyone, write down what you smell and turn it in when you leave this class, along with a vial of your potion.”

Iwaizumi and Oikawa glare at each other and retire to their respective corners of the table to comply with the professor’s request.

Funnily enough, the smell of Iwaizumi is _still_ as strong despite the widened distance between them ( _seriously, is Iwa-chan a skunk?_ ), and Oikawa tries his best to identify an aroma other than the stupid Gryffindor because he doesn’t want to end up writing _Iwaizumi Hajime_ on his sheet of parchment. He thinks there’s a faint scent of the Quidditch broom shed and _just_ a touch of the heavenly sweet smell of baked goods fresh out of the oven, though everything seems to have an underlying earthy and pine scent.

_Whatever. It works. The potion’s probably faulty anyway, so I can just write whatever._

Bending over the piece of parchment, the Slytherin scribbles _broom polish, a bakery_. He hesitates, then adds _grass and dirt after fresh rain_.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The first thing that Iwaizumi notices is that everyone in this room is part of a couple except for him and Oikawa. The second thing he notices is that somehow, Iwaizumi ends up sitting next to Oikawa (he suspects Kuroo’s manipulation is behind this. He does not trust that lazy smirk _one bit_ ). The last thing he notices is that everyone seems to be a bit too… touchy. It might be because everyone’s had at least one butterbeer (courtesy of Kuroo’s connections since they aren’t allowed to bring it in from Hogsmeade. As a prefect, the less Iwaziumi knows, the better) since O.W.L. results are finally out and it’s the second to last day of the term, so everyone’s letting loose.

There’s Daichi and Suga, of course, who (thankfully) aren’t the type to do “in your face” PDA, so they’re just holding hands and Suga’s leaning his head on Daichi’s shoulder. Then there’s Kuroo and Kenma, with the latter basically sitting in the former’s lap while Kenma buries his face in a book about the tactics of exploding snap, utterly disinterested in the happenings around him. It’s a surprise Kuroo even got him to come, or maybe he purposely picked the Ravenclaw common room to host this gathering so it’d be easier to haul Kenma out from his den (bed). Next to them are Bokuto and Akaashi, with the Gryffindor’s head on the Ravenclaw’s lap. There’s also Asahi and Nishinoya, who’re both close friends with Daichi, and Nishinoya’s clinging onto Asahi’s back like a koala. The last couple is Hanamaki and Matsukawa, who haven’t kept their hands off each other for a whole second yet.

Kuroo dumps a bunch of snacks into the center of their circle, and Bokuto, Hanamaki, Matsukawa, Oikawa, and Nishinoya immediately make a grab for their favorites.

Daichi picks up something from the pile and stares at Kuroo in disbelief. “Did you really smuggle a box of Pixie Puffs from the Great Hall?”

“Hey, free food is free food,” Kuroo says through a mouthful of pumpkin pastry, and Kenma grumbles when a few flakes land onto his book. “Oh! Let’s play truth or dare!”

The room erupts into a chorus of agreements and refusals (mainly from Kenma, and silently from Iwaizumi, who doesn’t want to do anything embarrassing nor spill any deep, dark secrets. _Not that I have any_ , he thinks to himself as he glances towards Oikawa), but Kuroo eventually gets the game started, and Iwaizumi is unfortunately roped into it.

“Daichi, truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Tell us that leg routine you’ve been keeping a secret since forever.”

Daichi eyes Kuroo skeptically and questions, “You’re going to use the truth for that?”

“Obviously. You’ve refused to tell any of us—

“I know!” Suga says cheerfully.

“—Well, okay, I see Suga gets boyfriend privileges. But you’ve refused to tell the rest of us for _years_.”

“Alright,” Daichi concedes with a shrug. “But you’ll never beat my leg game.”

“Is that a challenge?”

The two boys grin at each other while Suga leans over to Kenma and whispers, “I think your boyfriend wants a piece of my boyfriend.”

“I’m fine with that if it means Kuroo will stop interrupting my games to try and get me to have fun,” Kenma mutters, which makes Kuroo whip his head around and protest.

Oikawa leans in closer to Iwaizumi and asks, “Are Tetsu-chan and Sawamura-chan trying to compete for best body?”

Iwaizumi tries to ignore the heat radiating off from Oikawa and replies, “And also the title of best Keeper.” Kuroo’s probably one of the only people who can get Daichi truly riled up, but then again, Kuroo seems like the type to be able to get _anyone_ riled up.

“I’ll write my routine out and give a copy to anyone who wants it later,” Daichi promises, then turns to Suga. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

Daichi smirks like he knew Suga would go for the latter and says, “I dare you to perform ‘A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love’ like how you did for that family gathering when you were eight.”

Suga shoves Daichi lightly and says with a shake of his head, “I should’ve never told you about that.”

The Hufflepuff takes his place in front of the fireplace—which has been designated as the “stage” by Kuroo—and Daichi starts up the music. Iwaizumi is unsurprised to see Kuroo discreetly filming this.

Suga’s flawless singing is accompanied by cheesy movements like jazz hands and somewhat messy step sequences, but for a routine made by an eight-year-old, it’s pretty good choreography in Iwaizumi’s opinion. Hanamaki, Bokuto, and Oikawa cheer the loudest when Suga eases into the chorus and points straight at Daichi.

“ _I've got a cauldron full of hot, strong love_ _, t_ _hat's about to be unfurled_ _…_ ”

The loving eye contact between Suga and Daichi is almost too much for Iwaizumi to bear, and he’s about to turn to Oikawa to joke about the sexual tension in the room when he finds the Slytherin already staring at him. Oikawa looks away quickly, as if embarrassed to be caught, and Iwaizumi wants to interrogate him about it. However, Suga hits the last note of the song right at that moment, so Iwaizumi drops the matter and claps along with the rest of the group instead. Of course, Suga gets a standing ovation, and Nishinoya even yells, “ _I’m hiring you as my wedding entertainment!”_ which earns him an alarmed look from Asahi at the word “wedding”.

Suga joins the circle again with bright eyes, but not before Daichi pulls him in and kisses him passionately. Iwaizumi’s suddenly reminded of Oikawa’s expression when he had caught the boy staring—how the Slytherin’s lips had been slightly parted, and how his eyes had been so focused on Iwaizumi it felt as if they were the only two people in the room. As Iwaizumi watches the couple kiss, his mind somehow projects him and Oikawa into that situation. Oikawa would probably stick his tongue down his throat if they ever did—

The Gryffindor shakes his head in horror to destroy the imagery. _Why is he even thinking about this?_

“Bokuto, truth or dare?”

“Dare!” the boy chooses excitedly while Akaashi watches him with a soft smile.

“ _Oya_ , this’ll be fun,” Kuroo says with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Bo, I dare you to not touch or talk to Akaashi for the next five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” Bokuto repeats incredulously, then shoots a panicked look at his Ravenclaw boyfriend. “Can I drink instead of doing this?”

“Bokuto-san, you have no tolerance,” Akaashi reminds him, then caresses Bokuto’s hair. “It’ll be fine, Bokuto-san, it’s just five minutes. You can do it.”

Bokuto reluctantly agrees and curls up into a ball sulkily as soon as the timer starts. Kuroo volunteers to pick the next person when Bokuto mumbles that he doesn’t want to pick, and the Ravenclaw sets his sights on Hanamaki.

“Truth or dare?”

Hanamaki grins lazily and answers, “Dare.”

“I dare you to act out a proposal to Matsukawa right now.”

Everyone erupts into cheers and whoops (except Bokuto, who’s staring at the timer so intensely Iwaizumi’s half-expecting the thing to shatter from the laser-like focus), and Hanamaki waves his wand to produce a black velvet ring box. Kuroo’s already got the camera in his hand and eagerly waits for the show.

When everyone quiets down, Hanamaki takes Matsukawa’s hands and stares deep into his eyes while declaring, “Issei, you’ve made me the happiest man on Earth, and I will never find someone whom I can joke around with and tease Oikawa with like I can with you—”

“Hey!”

“—and so…” Hanamaki lets go of Matsukawa’s hands to slowly get down on one knee and dramatically presents the ring box with a flourish. Someone—Iwaizumi thinks it’s Asahi—sniffs in the audience, and Oikawa cues up a romantic piano ballad. “Issei, you are the cream to my creampuffs. Will you marry me?”

Matsukawa clasps his hands against his chest dramatically and exclaims, “Oh yes, Hiro, I’d love to marry you!”

Hanamaki slides the ring onto his pretend-fiancé’s right middle finger and fakes wiping a tear as he stands back up.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Nishinoya yells, and Hanamaki smirks before pulling Matsukawa in for a shameless, all-tongue kiss that Oikawa has unfortunately witnessed way too many times. This time, however, the Slytherin finds his mind wandering to his friends’ dumb Quidditch proposal idea from last year and sneaks a look at Iwaizumi. Oikawa quickly averts his gaze to avoid being caught staring for the second time, but not before he gets a full view of the Gryffindor’s thin lips and mesmerizing green eyes.

_I wonder what Iwa-chan tastes like_ — _Wait. Why am I thinking about this?_

Oikawa shakes himself out of his reverie and watches as Hanamaki picks on Iwaizumi next. Oikawa shoots his pink-haired friend a look, and Hanamaki subtly winks at him.

“Truth or dare?”

Iwaizumi leans forward onto his knees with his elbows and replies, “Truth.”

“Who would you kiss in this room?” Hanamaki asks. Oikawa wants to both hug and punch his friend because what if Iwa-chan answers _him_ , but also, what if Iwa-chan answers someone who _isn’t_ him?

Iwaizumi’s mind, on the other hand, is completely devoid of thoughts except for one.

_Oikawa_.

“Um,” Iwaizumi says, feeling a blush creep up his neck and being _acutely_ aware of how close he is to Oikawa. If he turned his head, he could…

He hastily grabs a bottle of butterbeer and mumbles quickly, “I think I’ll drink for this one,” before taking a huge swing. Grumbles of disappointment sound among the others, but Iwaizumi’s barely paying any attention. All he can think about is how he had almost blurted out Oikawa’s name without any thought.

He sneaks a glance at the boy on his right, who’s maintaining a perfectly pleasant face with a practiced smile. There’s something definitely off about Oikawa though, something Iwaizumi wouldn’t have been able to detect if he hadn’t spent so much time with the Slytherin over the past two years. He thinks there might be a hint of melancholy and disappointment in Oikawa’s expression, but _why_?

Iwaizumi suddenly finds himself wondering what would’ve happened if he had picked dare. If Hanamaki or someone else had told him to kiss Oikawa… would he have done it? He could just play it off as a dare, something he _had_ to do. But what if he ended up liking it? He can almost visualize it: the soft pink of Oikawa’s lips, reaching up a hand to caress those brown curls, the feel of warm lips pressed against his own…

A sense of heavy dread settles in Iwaizumi’s stomach as he realizes a truth he had been ignoring for months now— that he has, somehow, fallen for the one and only Oikawa Tooru.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

_6th year_

The months before the Christmas holidays pass by in a blink of an eye as Iwaizumi and his fellow Gryffindors bury themselves under piles of work in preparation for N.E.W.T.s.

“I’m so glad the term’s finally over,” Daichi mumbles on the last day before the holiday starts after finishing his DADA essay on Inferi. “N.E.W.T.s are killing me.”

Iwaizumi pats his friend’s shoulder and Bokuto leans back onto his hands from across Daichi. “I can’t wait to go home and eat chicken.”

“Lucky you,” Iwaizumi says with a sigh. “My parents are on a trip to Singapore and won’t be back until after the Christmas holidays end, so they told me not to bother going back home.”

“Want to come to my house?” Daichi asks, and Iwaizumi shakes his head.

“Thanks for the offer, but it’s alright.” Daichi has a lovely family and Iwaizumi loved visiting his house in the past years, but he doesn’t want to intrude on Daichi’s family time. “Maybe I’ll get a head start on some studying over the holidays here.”

“I heard Oikawa’s also staying. You guys can hang out together,” Daichi suggests, giving Iwaizumi a knowing look which the latter pretends not to see. It’s not like he has _explicitly_ admitted his feelings for the Slytherin, but Daichi seems to know anyway.

“Maybe. We’ll see,” Iwaizumi replies, though he knows he probably won’t. It’s not like he’s been _purposely_ avoiding Oikawa this term, but with Quidditch practices and the mountains of homework, they haven’t talked as much as before. Iwaizumi thinks he might prefer it this way. At least it’s easier to ignore his sad, hopeless crush on someone who had been his sworn enemy-at-first-sight.

Bokuto closes his Care of Magical Creatures textbook, which Gojira climbs onto, and the boy runs a hand over the silky black fur. “Want me to send you some agedashi tofu on Christmas, Iwaizumi?”

“Sure. Thank you,” Iwaizumi answers gratefully and glances at the fireplace crackling merrily.

Tomorrow, it’ll be just him, his books, and Gojira for two weeks.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Gojira, _no_ ,” Iwaizumi tells the niffler firmly when it tries to shove a whole thread of tinsel into its pouch. He plucks the decoration out of Gojira’s hands and leaves it on the table next to his plate of shepherd’s pie. Gojira makes an unhappy clicking noise, which Iwaizumi sighs at.

“If you behave right now, I’ll take you out to the gardens tomorrow.”

The niffler immediately perks up and sits down properly, which the Gryffindor smiles at. He normally wouldn’t bring Gojira into the Great Hall, especially when there are so many things for the niffler to ransack, but the place is almost empty, so he felt like it’d be fine to bring the niffler out for some air. Only one table is filled with food during meals now, but it’s still covered to the brim despite the fact that only a handful of students have stayed behind. Aside from Iwaizumi, there’s Kyoutani from his house, three Hufflepuff girls, a few Slytherins, and a Ravenclaw boy who looks like a first year.

Interestingly, Iwaizumi hasn’t seen Oikawa at all during meals in the two days since the holiday started, which—if he’s being honest—does worry him a bit. He even sent an owl to Ushijima to ask if Oikawa changed his mind about staying and went home for the holidays, and received an owl back the same day with a negative response. As he finishes the last bite of his shepherd’s pie, he decides that he _should_ go check up on Oikawa just to make sure he isn’t lying in a ditch somewhere.

He scoops Gojira up and lets it ride on his shoulder as he heads to the Entrance Hall to get to the stone staircase. Even though it’s been almost two years since he last came down here to do homework with Oikawa (he doesn’t even remember why they stopped. He supposes it was because they didn’t have as many classes together after fourth year, and they both had their own friends to do work with), but Iwaizumi feels as if he can still walk this path blindfolded. At the end of the staircase is a stone wall, and Iwaizumi mutters the password _serpent_ (it’s the only time he’ll exploit his prefect privileges, he promises to himself) before the wall shifts to reveal a dimly-lit passage.

The common room is, thankfully, empty, most likely because it’s still dinner time. Iwaizumi feels a sense of nostalgia as he spots the communal Wizard’s Chess set on the wooden table in front of the black leather sofas, and the little skulls lining the edge of the big table where he used to do homework with Oikawa. The lamps tinge everything in a faint emerald green, creating a grand Slytherin atmosphere.

Iwaizumi heads up the staircase to the dormitory labeled for sixth years, his shoes treading on stone.

“Who’s there?”

It’s the unmistakable voice of Oikawa, though it’s much more feeble than usual, which is how Iwaizumi knows something’s wrong.

“Oikawa?”

The Slytherin’s face relaxes as soon as Iwaizumi emerges from the staircase, and he slumps his head back onto the pillow. “Iwa-chan,” he croaks out.

“What happened?” the Gryffindor demands as he takes in Oikawa’s flushed face and sweaty hair. The boy’s also shivering slightly even though he’s buried under two layers of blankets.

“I’m fine, just a small cold,” Oikawa says weakly before coughing.

“You don’t look fine at all,” the Gryffindor asserts and reaches up to feel Oikawa’s forehead, which the other boy flinches slightly at. “You’re burning. Have you been up here since the holiday started? Do your friends know?”

“It started yesterday, but like I said, I’ll be fine. It’ll pass soon.”

Iwaizumi shakes his head in disbelief. “Oikawa, you’re literally about to pass out. Why didn’t you go to the infirmary?”

“Madam Arai goes home for the holidays,” Oikawa mumbles with closed eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ve stayed here for every Christmas holiday except for the one in third year.”

Iwaizumi tries not to look too surprised. He thought Oikawa would be the type of child to go home every holiday and enjoy a lavish Christmas feast with his family, but now he feels bad for making that assumption. Instead of voicing his thought, however, Iwaizumi magics up a glass of water and sets it on the bedside table.

“Drink this. I’ll be back soon.”

Iwaizumi hastily runs back to the Gryffindor Tower to drop off Gojira and grab his Potions textbook, cauldron, and some ingredients from the stash he and his housemates kept for Potions practice before exams.

(There was a point where, instead of buying the ingredients from the Apothecary like normal people, they would compete to see who could smuggle out the most Potions ingredients from Irihata’s classroom. It was all pretty mild, with Iwaizumi’s record being two springs of peppermint and a single eel eye, until Ushijima somehow managed to sneak out a whole jar of leeches.)

By the time Iwaizumi returns to Oikawa’s dormitory, the water from the glass is gone, and the Slytherin appears to be sleeping. The Gryffindor decides to head back down to the common room to set up his cauldron and prepare the ingredients. He’s made the Pepperup Potion a few times before, both in class and on his own as practice for end-of-year exams, so he confidently chops up the mandrake roots and grinds the bicorn horns.

Soon, Iwaizumi brings up a vial of red potion to Oikawa and pours it into the boy’s glass before gently shaking him awake.

“Here, it’s a Pepperup Potion,” Iwaizumi tells him, holding out the drink. He summons a chair from across the room and takes a seat while Oikawa sits up against his pillow.

“Iwa-chan, are you sure it’s safe to drink this?” Oikawa teases weakly as he takes the glass. “Don’t forget you messed up that Amortentia Potion last year.”

“ _You’re_ the one who screwed up, Crappykawa,” Iwaizumi refutes with a shake of his head. “Now drink it.”

Oikawa downs the glass obediently ( _he must be feeling quite terrible_ , Iwaizumi thinks, having expected more resistance from the boy) and coughs as steam starts pouring from his ears.

“Are you sure it’s okay to drink this when I have a fever too? Doesn’t this potion elevate the body temperature even more?”

“Well, I was kinda worried about that, but hopefully it is.”

“Iwa-chan! Are you trying to murder me here?”

“I would have done that ages ago if I actually wanted to.”

“I’m literally on my death bed, and you’re _still_ going to be mean to me?”

“Being mean would be ignoring you and leaving you here to die instead of brewing that potion.”

“… which might kill me.”

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes at Oikawa’s dramatic tone while conjuring up a wet towel to place on Oikawa’s forehead, and the two descend into companionable silence. The Gryffindor’s about to go downstairs to clean up because Oikawa looks as if he’s fallen asleep when the sick boy speaks up.

“Why aren’t you back home?”

“My parents are on a trip and won’t be back until school starts again, so they told me not to bother.”

Oikawa chuckles lightly. “They sound like great parents.”

“Well, it’s their twentieth wedding anniversary or something this year, so I’ll let it slide,” Iwaizumi says jokingly and leans forward onto his knees. “I guess I’m kinda bummed I won’t get to taste my mother’s Christmas roast dinner this year though.”

“Don’t worry, the one at Hogwarts is probably almost as impressive. I look forward to it every year.”

Iwaizumi stays quiet for a moment, then asks tentatively, “Why don’t you go home for Christmases?”

Oikawa looks down at his hands clutching the blanket. “My parents are always busy with conferences and work and all that. They wouldn’t really have time to spend with me even if I do go back.”

Something tightens in Iwaizumi’s heart at the sight of the longing and bitterness in Oikawa’s expression. He never would’ve thought someone like Oikawa—who’s beloved by all the professors and his peers and his fangirl club—would feel the despair of loneliness too.

“Are they still adamant about you being an Auror?” Iwaizumi asks, remembering their conversation from fourth year.

“Yeah. That’s actually one of the only things they talk about to me when we _do_ see each other,” Oikawa mutters, his fingers clenching onto the blanket. Iwaizumi wants to say something to comfort him, but the boy adds with a yawn, “It’s fine, though. I think I’m getting sleepy.”

Iwaizumi considers saying something encouraging but decides against it because it’s not really his place to give Oikawa advice. They’re just friends who, in the past few months, have teetered on the brink of reverting back to acquaintances. Besides, Oikawa’s clearly trying to avoid the topic. Instead, the Gryffindor helps Oikawa get comfortable under the blanket and refills his glass with water. He’s about to get up and leave when a hand on his arm stops him.

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa mumbles, the claws of sleep already starting to drag him into slumber. “Will you still be here when I wake up?”

Iwaizumi’s suddenly painfully aware of his accelerated heartbeat as he looks down at where Oikawa’s warm skin meets his. He takes in the Slytherin’s long eyelashes against his closed eyes, the curls fanning out on his pillow, the pale pink tinge of his lips, and thinks about how bad of a decision this was.

Despite his thoughts, Iwaizumi answers truthfully, “Yeah, I will.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Oikawa’s walking by the courtyard with Hanamaki and Matsukawa when he spots Iwaizumi on the other side with his Gryffindor friends. His heart feels a momentary sense of aching when he remembers how patient and caring the Gryffindor had been during his bout of sickness back in December, and how they’ve sadly gone back to only brief exchanges every now and then. Oikawa has no idea why Iwaizumi seems to be keeping his distance again, not when they had so much fun over the holidays playing chess, challenging each other to eat the most disgusting Bertie Bott’s beans, and watching movies by the Great Lake like they used to. Unless… Iwaizumi realized how much of a loser Oikawa actually is? Or maybe Iwaizumi realized how he doesn’t want Oikawa as a friend?

Iwaizumi’s never been one to worship Oikawa like so many others do, and that’s one of the traits that attracted Oikawa to him in the first place. Unfortunately, this also means that Oikawa has a hard time figuring out what Iwaizumi _really_ feels for him.

“Boy troubles again?” Hanamaki teases from beside Oikawa while Matsukawa wears a knowing grin.

“What? No!” Oikawa denies. His two friends give him their most unimpressed looks, and Oikawa admits, “Okay, fine. Maybe.”

“Have you given any more thought to our fabulous Quidditch pitch marriage proposal?”

“Well, have you started planning your wedding yet, Makki? You two got engaged almost a year ago. It’s about time for some wedding fun.”

“Oh, did we forget to tell you?” Hanamaki lovingly takes his so-called fiancé’s hand and declares, “We got married already! Issei is my hubby now, right?”

“Oh yes, my pumpkin pie. We had the _best_ wedding ever where we flew to Las Vegas and got married after visiting those casinos and we even rented a hotel room and—”

“Okay, okay, stop,” Oikawa interrupts before his best friends get too far into their fantasies. “I refuse to let you guys get officially married until you host an actual wedding where I’m the best man.”

“Sorry, Oikawa, we’re planning on giving that honor to Hiro’s dog,” Matsukawa says with an apologetic smile.

“Makki, you can’t possibly do that! At least tell me I’ll be one of your groomsmen with a front row seat to everything.”

“Hmm. I think the spots for groomsmen are all filled, but I can guarantee you a front row seat. Best seat in the house, I promise,” Hanamaki assures with a sly grin.

Oikawa brightens up. “Really? Will I be sitting at the front table?”

“Nah, you can sit in the trash bin next to the stage. See, front row seats!”

“Makki! So mean!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Oikawa knows that he is the biggest screw-up in history.

He has no idea why he ever thought sending Iwaizumi that box of spiked chocolates was a good idea. Maybe he was tired of his unrequited crush and wanted a taste of what it would be like for it to be requited, or maybe all the stress of N.E.W.T.s are just getting to his head. Either way, he majorly messed up, and his way of coping with that is to lie in his bed and think about how much Iwaizumi must hate him now.

_“Oikawa… Did you know, you’re the most attractive guy I’ve ever met? Especially when you’re playing Quidditch. You look so alive and free on the field, like a bird,” Iwaizumi muttered, staring up at the Slytherin with glazed eyes while his body continued pressing into Oikawa’s as they leaned against a wall. “I think… I love you.”_

_Oikawa felt his breath audibly hitch and his heart ached. He wished so badly that Iwaizumi was saying that for real, and not just because of a love potion._

“Oi, Oikawa. What’s going on with you?” Hanamaki’s voice calls from the staircase of the dormitory. The memory dissipates from Oikawa’s mind, and he’s left with a swirling pool of regret and emptiness once again.

“Nothing. I’m fine,” Oikawa mumbles as he turns away from his friend.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with Iwaizumi, would it?”

Oikawa sits up straight in his bed, panicked. “What? What about Iwaizumi?” Does the whole school now know what a manipulative loser Oikawa is? He didn’t think Iwaizumi would be the type to babble to everyone, but news does travel fast when there’s always the chance of a ghost or painting eavesdropping on conversations.

“I don’t know. I heard something happened with him today because people were whispering about seeing him being escorted to Irihata this morning by his friends.” Hanamaki shoots Oikawa a knowing look. “Please don’t tell me you drugged him with a love potion.”

The other boy buries his face into his pillow, which muffles his voice as he moans, “Don’t rub salt into the wound, Makki. I know how stupid it was.”

“That bad, huh?” The pink haired Slytherin sits cross-legged on his own bed and props his chin onto his left fist. “Did you apologize, at least?”

“Makki, you don’t understand. Iwa-chan never wants to talk to me again.”

_“Iwa-chan, wait, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying t—”_

_Iwaizumi spun around and regarded Oikawa with the most disdainful and disgusted look ever. “Don’t ever talk to me again or I’ll hex you into tomorrow.”_

_Oikawa felt his heart shrivel up and shatter into a million pieces._

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Iwaizumi is definitely avoiding Oikawa now. Not that Oikawa’s surprised about it. He just tries to keep going on with his life while pretending there isn’t a giant, gaping hole where his heart used to be.

Wake up. Eat breakfast. Go to classes. Try not to look longingly at Iwa-chan. Eat lunch. Try not to think too much about Iwa-chan. Quidditch practice. Eat dinner. Homework. Sleep. Repeat.

His two best friends let him wallow in emptiness and melancholy for about two weeks before finally deciding to stage an intervention. Hanamaki and Matsukawa cleverly pick an evening Qudditch practice to corner Oikawa, knowing their captain would never miss a practice unless he’s literally on the brink of death.

“Okay, captain, we’re worried about you,” Hanamaki says when they’re all on the field waiting for Oikawa to start practice. Matsukawa nods in agreement, and Oikawa immediately plasters on one of his practiced smiles.

“Makki, I’m perfectly fine,” the Slytherin captain chirps before turning away to address the team. Matsukawa sees this coming, though, and steps into Oikawa’s line of sight to prevent him from escaping this much-needed conversation.

“No, you’re not. You’ve been on autopilot these two weeks, you barely eat anything during meals, and don’t think Issei and I haven’t noticed how you sneak down here almost nightly to practice on your own,” Hanamaki says with a serious tone drastically different from his usual jokey one. “Do you want to get injured before our match against Ravenclaw? We’re literally tied with them for the house cup right now.”

“I’m _fine_ , Makki. I’m just practicing so we’ll crush Kuroo and his birdies for sure,” Oikawa lies. Of course his two friends would notice his nightly practices, which is something he tends to do whenever life starts spiraling out of control. He supposes it’s just comforting to jump on his broomstick and fly freely on the pitch, able to control how fast he goes, and _where_ he goes. It’s definitely a nice distraction from reality, where he has no idea where he’s going at all.

“Well, practicing for two hours every night isn’t going to help. Do you want to fall from your broomstick in exhaustion?”

“Makki, are you my mom? I’m fine, I said. Just stressed about work and stuff.”

“And a certain boy?” Matsukawa voices the unspoken words in Oikawa’s mind. The three of them remain silent for a moment in their circle, all thinking about their next words while trying to ignore Atsumu’s deafening complaints in the background about Osamu borrowing his broomstick without permission. “Oikawa, you’re literally an empty shell now. If you really want Iwaizumi to forgive you that badly, go let him know how sorry you are and tell him the truth.”

“No. I feel nothing for Iwa-chan now,” Oikawa finally says, the certainty in his voice _almost_ convincing. Except, his two friends catch the slight waver in his voice when he mentions Iwaizumi’s name, and the way his smile seems too forced on the sides.

“Look, we’ll let this slide if you stop overdoing it on the nightly practices, but just promise you’ll think about it. We don’t want to watch you wreck yourself over a guy,” Hanamaki says while slinging an arm around Oikawa and catching Matsukawa’s eye over Oikawa’s shoulder. “Alright, captain, let’s go see how long Atsumu can last today without getting into an argument with someone. I say ten minutes.”

Matsukawa snorts and swings his beater bat around. “What a novice. Obviously it’ll be less than five.”

Oikawa joins in on their bets but his mind is only half-listening. The other half is mulling over what Matsukawa said, and wondering if it’ll really be worth it putting his heart on the line when his feelings are so clearly unrequited.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

One evening after meeting with Professor Washijou about his latest assignment, Oikawa’s heading down a relatively deserted staircase when he spots a familiar head of spiky hair climbing up the next flight of stairs. The Slytherin freezes on the step he’s on as his mind starts to panic.

_Oh god, it’s Iwa-chan! Do I say something? Is he just going to pretend I don’t exist? Is it too late to turn around?_

Oikawa’s still considering the plausibility of that last option when Iwaizumi reaches the landing and glances up, right at the Slytherin. A tiny flame of hope ignites in Oikawa when they make eye contact—only to be doused completely when Iwaizumi directs his eyes straight ahead again with a stony face, as if they’re nothing more than strangers. Still, Oikawa stays planted to the step as Iwaizumi passes by hastily, not sparing the Slytherin a single glance.

Oikawa technically still hasn’t made up his mind about what Matsukawa had said during that Quidditch practice three days ago, but he finds himself making the decision on the whim as he stares at Iwaizumi’s retreating figure.

“Iwa-chan!”

The Gryffindor carries on as if Oikawa hadn’t spoken at all. Desperate, the Slytherin clambers up the stairs, nearing tripping on the top step in the process, and grabs at Iwaizumi’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me,” Iwaizumi growls as he whips back towards the other boy with red-hot fury in his eyes. Oikawa flinches and drops his hand immediately.

“I’m sorry, Iwa-chan, just… will you hear me out?” Oikawa asks pleadingly.

“What, so I can listen to your lame-ass excuse about how it was just a prank?” Iwaizumi spits. “Haven’t you humiliated me enough?”

“No, please, that isn’t what it was!” The Slytherin explains desperately as he moves in front of Iwaizumi to block his path.

“I told you not to talk to me again. Now move so I can get to the library.”

Oikawa thrusts himself forward into a low bow, throwing all of his dignity out the window. He tries not to think about how _he_ —the so-called Great King—is bowing to someone else instead of the other way around. “Iwa-chan, I know I messed up majorly, and I’m really, really sorry for doing that. Can you… can you just listen to what I have to say? Just this once? Then we can part ways and I promise I won’t talk to you again and you can keep pretending like you don’t know me.” Something twists in his gut as he says that last part, even though it’ll probably be the case when he confesses to Iwaizumi and the unrequited love makes it too awkward to remain friends.

_Well, it’s not like we’ve been friends in the past few weeks anyway. I’ll survive._

When he hears no response, Oikawa raises his head to find Iwaizumi staring down at him, his face betraying no emotion. Just then, rowdy laughter sounds from downstairs, followed by chattering, and Iwaizumi glances towards the staircase. “Fine. I’ll listen to you this one time, and then you’ll never talk to me again.”

Oikawa nods, even though he feels himself wilting internally at the prospect of never talking to Iwaizumi again for the rest of his life.

The noises get louder as the group of students climb higher up the stairs, and Iwaizumi gives Oikawa one last look before saying, “Let’s talk somewhere else.”

Relieved, the Slytherin trails after the boy without a complaint. He wasn’t looking forward to having this conversation right out in the open where anyone—including the ghosts and paintings—could hear, and he especially wants zero witnesses when he gets his heart broken. They walk in silence down the corridors and up some stairs, and it isn’t until they’re climbing up the Astronomy Stairs that Oikawa realizes where they’re going.

“Astronomy tower?” he asks curiously, knowing that Iwaizumi dropped astronomy after O.W.L.s despite earning an _exceeds expectations_. _Mm-hmm_ is the only response he gets as they ascend higher and higher up the tower, eventually reaching the wooden door. To Oikawa’s surprise, Iwaizumi opens the door easily and heads outside, and the Slytherin follows close behind.

“How’d you know it’d be unlocked?” Oikawa asks as he stares up at the bewitching night sky, which never ceases to amaze him even though he comes up here weekly for astronomy classes.

“I’ve always known. Daichi brings me along to do his astronomy homework sometimes,” Iwaizumi replies simply, and he turns back to face the other boy. “We’re alone up here. You can talk now.”

Now that the moment is here, Oikawa isn’t quite sure how to start this conversation, but he decides to address the misunderstanding first.

“When I gave you those chocolates for Valentine’s Day, it wasn’t because I was trying to trick you or humiliate you,” Oikawa starts, wringing his fingers. “I just…”

_This is it. He’s going to tell Iwa-chan what he should’ve said a long time ago_.

“… I guess I just wanted to know what it’d be like for Iwa-chan to actually like me back,” Oikawa forces out in one exhale, his heart thundering in his chest. He watches Iwaizumi’s reaction closely, but aside from a slight widening of his eyes, the Gryffindor displays no other emotion. “I know it was a stupid thing to do, but I— I really like you, Iwa-chan. I don’t even know how it happened or when it happened, but I do. Like you, I mean. I know you probably hated me for what I did from first to third year, and you probably hate me now again for the chocolates but… I just wanted to let you know. And you don’t have to say anything because we can just pretend this never happened and be strangers again.”

The period of silence that follows is, Oikawa thinks, the most excruciating minute of his life.

Finally, Iwaizumi rubs the back of his neck and says quietly, “You don’t need a love potion to know what it’s like for me to like you back.”

The words float around in Oikawa’s head, all making sense individually yet becoming jumbled up when he tries to comprehend them as a sentence.

“Iwa-chan… Are you saying…”

“I like you too, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi confesses with his hand still on the back of his neck as his eyes flick up to meet Oikawa’s. “What you did was crappy, but somehow, I still like you.”

“I know, Iwa-chan, I promise I won’t do something like that ever again,” Oikawa states, tears already forming in his eyes. He tries to hold them back, but they start rolling down his cheeks uncontrollably, so he lifts an arm to wipe his eyes. “Sorry, I’m just… I never thought this would happen.”

Iwaizumi sighs and reaches out to envelope the crying boy in his arms. “You’re such a crybaby, Loserkawa,” he teases with an affectionate smile.

“Iwa-chan, you can’t just confess and then insult me right after that!”

“Too bad. I just did.”

The two boys stay in the embrace until Oikawa’s tears stop, and Iwaizumi magics up some blankets so they can sit and digest what just happened (also, it’s cold).

“I…” Iwaizumi starts to say when they’re both wrapped snugly in the blankets. “I still can’t quite believe this.”

“Honestly, me too. I thought you hated me.”

“I did, during those first three years. You were such an annoying brat,” Iwaizumi tells the Slytherin, who opens his mouth to deny it, but Iwaizumi keeps going. “But, I think it was during our detention days, I realized who you really are beneath all that showiness and arrogance, and I started liking having you as a friend.”

Oikawa exhales deeply. “I did too, during our first three years. I thought you were such a stuck-up and a goody-two-shoes. But I also started having a change of heart after detention.”

“Guess we should thank Professor Nekomata, huh?” Iwaizumi jokes. His tone reverts back to a serious one when he asks a question that’s been on his mind for the past few minutes. “When did you start?”

Oikawa understands instantly what Iwaizumi is referring to. “I don’t know,” he answers honestly. “It might’ve been after our conversation in fourth year after I lost to Tobio-chan, or that day we spent together at Hogsmeade. I was in denial for a long time though because I couldn’t believe I’d fall for someone like you. What about you, Iwa-chan?”

“I don’t really know when it started either, but I do know I came to terms with my feelings during Kuroo’s truth or dare game,” Iwaizumi answers, looking up at the sky as he reminisces that exact moment he realized he had fallen for the boy next to him. He remembers how it felt like a sudden wave crashing over him—powerful and unexpected —and once he was drenched in that revelation, there was no going back. “I think I already liked you before that though. I was just also in denial because I couldn’t believe I fell for an oversized baby.”

“I’m not a baby!” Oikawa protests, glaring at the other boy. “If anyone’s a baby, it should be Bo-chan.”

“Yeah, well, he has Akaashi to look after him.”

Oikawa turns to regard the Gryffindor with hopeful eyes. “But you’ll look after me, right, Iwa-chan?”

“Nope. I didn’t sign up for babysitting duties,” Iwaizumi says with a grin that reveals to Oikawa that it’s a joke.

“So mean to your own boyfriend, Iwa-chan. Either way, you’re stuck with me now. No returns!” Oikawa huffs. He feels a moment of apprehension at the word _boyfriend_ because they never explicitly labeled anything, and the word just slipped out, but Iwaizumi smiles at the title.

“Who said I’ll ever want to return you?” Iwaizumi asks seriously while threading their fingers together, which makes Oikawa’s heart skip a beat.

The Slytherin looks up to the side to hide his blush, but also to thank the stars twinkly faintly in the ocean of darkness for what the universe has gifted him tonight.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Iwa-chan, if I read _one more sentence_ about dementors, I’m going to puke,” Oikawa moans as he slumps over his _Confronting the Faceless_ textbook. It’s a week before final exams, and all of the sixth years are stuck in a studying frenzy.

“Shhh,” Iwaizumi shushes the other boy while his eyes dart around to make sure the librarian doesn’t kick them out _again_ for Oikawa’s noisy complaints. “Do you want to get us kicked out again?”

“Easy, we’ll just pretend we don’t know him,” Hanamaki suggests from the other side of the table. Matsukawa nods in agreement, and Iwaizumi mimics the action as he scoots his chair further away from Oikawa.

“Good point. I have no idea why I’m sitting next to this stranger,” Iwaizumi states as Oikawa’s face falls.

“Iwa-chaaaaaan, why are you listening to these two gremlins?” he wails, and Iwaizumi shushes him again. Oikawa crosses his arms petulantly but lowers his voice to mutter, “I should have never introduced you guys to each other. Now you’re ganging up on me!”

“Technically, Kuroo introduced us, so we would have become friends anyway,” Iwaizumi reminds him while he jots down some notes on nonverbal spells. Their Defense Against the Dark Arts exam is the first one next week, which is why the library table they’re camping out at is covered in textbooks on dark creatures and spells. He _would_ normally study with his housemates, but Bokuto studies best with Akaashi, Daichi’s off with Suga somewhere (hopefully studying. If not, Iwaizumi doesn’t want to know), and Ushijima was whisked away by Tendou for some dueling practice. Besides, Iwaizumi fits right in with Oikawa’s group and gets along exceptionally well with Hanamaki and Matsukawa (especially when teasing Oikawa).

“Yeah, face it, Oikawa,” Hanamaki says as he flips a page in the book he’s sharing with Matsukawa. “Iwaizumi was destined to become friends with me and Issei so we can all make fun of you together.”

Oikawa’s about to protest, but Matsukawa suddenly asks, “Hey, are we still up for ramen when we go back home for summer holidays?”

“Hell yeah,” Hanamaki exclaims and points a finger at Oikawa. “You owe us ramen for losing the most bets.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Oikawa says sulkily as he sits back up in his chair. Iwaizumi looks at him with an amused gaze because Oikawa’s still kind of (read: _really_ ) cute even when he’s acting childishly.

“Iwaizumi should come too,” Matsukawa suggests.

Oikawa lurches forward on his chair and protests, “Hey, Iwa-chan wasn’t part of our bets!”

“Won’t even treat your own boyfriend to ramen, Oikawa?” Hanamaki laments with a shake of his head. “Tsk tsk, you can do so much better, Iwaizumi.”

“I know.”

“Iwa-chan!”

“Hey, how about we invite everyone else too? We can get Kuroo and Kenma and Akaashi and Bokuto and Daichi and Suga and Ushijima—”

“Absolutely not! No Ushiwaka!” Oikawa complains as he slaps both hands onto the table, which earns him a _shhhh_ from Iwaizumi again. “And also, I’m not a walking wallet! Are you trying to make me go broke, Makki?”

His friend ignores him and continues listing off people while Iwaizumi asks, “Are you _still_ rivals with Ushijima? Isn’t he your cousin?”

“ _Very_ distant cousin,” Oikawa corrects with a sniff. “And of course I hate him. During family gatherings he never says anything other than ‘you should have come to Gryffindor’!”

“I agree, you should have gone to Gryffindor. We wouldn’t have had to put up with your endless pining and whining over Iwaizumi then.”

“Sorry, we don’t accept people who won’t go to the bathroom alone at night because they’re scared of being abducted by aliens.”

“Iwa-chaaaaan! Stop telling lies!”

Iwaizumi turns to face the other two Slytherins and tells them, “I’m not lying.”

“Oh, we know, we know.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

_7th year_

“Iwa-chan, how did you know you want to be a Mediwizard?”

The grass grazes his cheek gently as Iwaizumi turns his head towards Oikawa. They’re lying down on the field next to the Great Lake and watching the sun slowly dip behind the two mountains in the distance— a rare occasion, since they’re usually holed up in either the library or a common room to work on the avalanche of work from dinner until bedtime. Today, however, the professors have miraculously given them a break, so Iwaizumi and Oikawa have decided to spend their free time outside.

The Gryffindor takes a minute to think about his answer. “Do you remember when you fell off your broom and broke your leg during the match against Hufflepuff in fourth year?”

“Of course. Makki and Mattsun wouldn’t shut up about it for days,” Oikawa mutters with a scowl on his face. Iwaizumi finds himself wanting to kiss it away.

“Well, Madam Arai mended your bones in just a few minutes, but an injury like that would take months to heal in the muggle world. I suppose that’s why healing magic has always been one of the things that captivated me the most.” The sky slowly morphs into a swirl of orange and pink as Iwaizumi keeps talking. “If you injured yourself in a sport in the muggle world, you might not ever be able to play it again, but healing magic makes it possible in the wizarding world, and I just want to help everyone keep doing what they love.”

There’s a moment of silence as Oikawa considers Iwaizumi’s words.

“I think you would make an excellent Mediwizard, Iwa-chan. Maybe not for children though, you’d scare them away with your bear-like face,” Oikawa jokes, then rolls away from Iwaizumi to avoid the punch that is sure to come. When he decides that it’s safe to scoot back next to the Gryffindor, Oikawa’s face becomes serious again. “I’ve been thinking about what I want to do after graduation.”

Iwaizumi’s not surprised. With N.E.W.T.s less than two months away, most of his classmates are planning out their next steps after exams and graduation.

“And?”

“I know my parents have basically planned out my path to become an Auror, but… I think I just want to play Quidditch.”

Iwaizumi knows that Oikawa could excel as an Auror if he wanted to—after all, his hardworking nature is what earned him the “star seeker” title and six _O_ s and two _E_ s in O.W.L.s—but he also knows what Oikawa truly loves.

“Then you should do it.” Oikawa turns to meet his gaze, almost like he’s surprised by Iwaizumi’s acceptance. “I know you can do great as an Auror, but I also know that you won’t be truly happy. You belong on a broom out on the field, Tooru, and if your parents don’t understand that, then they don’t deserve you.”

“Iwa-chan… Do you really think I can do it?”

“Stop asking stupid questions, Dumbkawa,” Iwaizumi says as he threads his fingers through Oikawa’s. “Of course you can. I believe in you more than I do in anyone else.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Iwaizumi paces impatiently in front of the Three Broomsticks during one of their last Hogsmeade trips before exams. He had offered to be with Oikawa for the conversation with his parents, but the Slytherin said that it was something he had to do alone. Iwaizumi believes Oikawa can handle himself just fine, but it still doesn’t ease the nerves in his stomach as he tries to distract himself by observing the passersby.

Just then, the door swings open, and Iwaizumi immediately knows that the conversation hasn’t gone how Oikawa had wanted it to as he takes in the boy’s disappointed eyes and downturned mouth.

“Iwa-chan… Can we go somewhere quieter?” Oikawa asks softly as Iwaizumi takes his hand and gives it a squeeze.

The two silently head to the edge of the village, where only a few people are milling about. Iwaizumi keeps his hand in Oikawa’s as a means of emotional support and waits for the Slytherin to feel comfortable talking.

“My father disapproved strongly,” Oikawa finally says as he halts his steps and Iwaizumi follows. “I guess I should’ve known.”

“He’s disappointed that you won’t follow in his footsteps?”

“That, and he also thinks playing Quidditch isn’t a fancy enough job,” Oikawa mutters bitterly.

“Seriously? It’s one of the highest paying jobs!”

“Yeah, well, nothing outside of the Ministry of Magic will be good enough for him. My mother supported me though,” Oikawa tells Iwaizumi with a tiny smile, but it’s weighed down by sorrow from his father’s rejection. “My father probably wants to disown me now.”

Iwaizumi doesn’t miss a beat when he asserts, “He’ll come around eventually, when you snag the World Cup with your team.”

“I hope so.” Oikawa exhales deeply as he looks up at the foggy sky. “Guess now I’ll have to look for a place to live here.”

“Do you know which team you want to play for yet?”

Oikawa’s eyes dart up to the right upper corner as he tries to recall the offers he has received. “Not really, but I’m planning on doing more research on each of them after exams. I don’t have to decide until July.”

“Well…” Iwaizumi scratches the back of his neck with his free hand and lowers his eyes. “Do you want to get a place together? Since I’ll be staying here for my training at St. Mungo’s anyway. We can even ask Hanamaki and Mastukawa if they want to share too.”

“Really?” Oikawa’s face brightens up, and he throws his arms over the other boy’s shoulders. “That’d be amazing. Then I’d be able to eat Iwa-chan’s delicious milkbread all the time!”

Iwaizumi chuckles lightly. “I knew you were only in it for the milkbread.”

“Well, Iwa-chan’s a surprisingly good cook for someone with such a tiny gorilla brain.”

“You have three seconds to run,” Iwaizumi states seriously with a fist raised. Oikawa squawks and immediately runs up the path heading back to Hogwarts, both of them laughing and out of breath by the time they reach the main entrance.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“We did it!” Oikawa yells excitedly as he jumps into Iwaizumi’s awaiting arms, still decked out in his Quidditch robes and gloves. “I beat Tobio-chan!”

Iwaizumi grins and ignores the few stares he gets for the green and scarf wrapped around his neck, more for decorative purposes than practical since it’s already early April.

“Congratulations! I knew you could do it.”

Oikawa beams and leans in for his congratulatory kiss when a voice sounds from beside them. “Ay, Captain! Way to end our last game!”

Iwaizumi barely has time to let go of his boyfriend before Hanamaki and Matsukawa each sling an arm around Oikawa’s shoulders with their other hand twirling their beater bats.

“Don’t forget about our deal. You owe the entire team a round of butterbeer,” Matsukawa reminds Oikawa, who grimaces and shrugs them off.

“Also, party in the common room! You better be there, cap!” Hanamaki yells into Oikawa’s ear.

“Oh god, Makki, I get it, I’ll be there,” the Quidditch captain replies with a wince as his two friends laugh and head off. He turns to Iwaizumi, who’s watching him affectionately, and asks, “You wanna come?”

“Sure,” Iwaizumi answers, then reaches out for Oikawa’s hand. “I’m so proud of you, Tooru.”

Oikawa leans down so their foreheads touch and closes his eyes. “Thank you, Hajime.”

“Count me in on that butterbeer though.”

“What? Hey! You weren’t part of the bet!”

“Whatever, I deserve it for looking after a manchild like you.”

“Iwa-chan, you’re ruining the mood.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Oh man, I definitely bombed that—”

“ _You_ bombed it? My gerbil was still porcelain!”

“At least you didn’t transfigure a teacup into a teacup with a tail!”

Oikawa tries to tune out his best friends’ dumb competition over who failed the hardest and just thinks about how his N.E.W.T.s are all over. And soon, so will his journey at Hogwarts.

“Hey, how did it go?” a gruff but affectionate voice asks from behind Oikawa.

“Iwa-chan!” the Slytherin cries as he turns and buries his face into the crook between Iwaizumi’s neck and shoulder. “It was okay. My gerbil tried to run away before the professor could examine it.”

“It probably saw your face,” Iwaizumi teases, which Oikawa responds to with a deadpan expression.

“ _Your_ gerbil would probably die instantly if it saw you!”

“Contrarily, my gerbil was very well-behaved and even let me pet it.”

“Ugh, whatever!” Oikawa mumbles exasperatedly. “Iwa-chan is just some magical creature whisperer. You should’ve become a magizoologist instead.”

“Hmm that’s a good suggestion.” Iwaizumi pretends to contemplate the idea. “Maybe then I’d have a chance at taming you.”

“Iwa-chan, I’m not a dog.”

“Really?” Iwaizumi produces a loaf of milkbread he had made specifically for Oikawa as a congratulations-for-completing-exams gift and dangles it in the air as Oikawa’s eyes widen. “Go fetch!”

Iwaizumi throws the loaf at Hanamaki, who’s already waiting to receive it, and Oikawa runs after him, yelling, “Makki! Give me back my milkbread or I’m stealing that secret box of creampuffs you stashed under your bed!”

Matsukawa snorts and high-fives Iwaizumi as the two of them watch the entertaining scene with amusement.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The sky’s perfectly clear tonight, allowing the stars to shine and sparkle brightly. Somewhere in the castle, there’s a seventh-year party happening, but Oikawa and Iwaizumi only stopped by for drinks before coming up to the Astronomy Tower, where the serenity of the night is comforting.

“Daichi and Suga want us to go visit their apartment during summer holidays,” Iwaizumi says, continuing their conversation about where everyone’s futures are headed.

“Ooh. Has Refreshing-kun decided what subject he wants to teach yet?”

“Probably Transfiguration. He does have a real knack for it,” Iwaizumi replies, remembering the time Suga had given them all rabbit ears as a prank on April Fools’.

“Hanamaki’s considering teaching too, though he’s still unsure. I think Matsukawa’s trying to get him to work at Zonko’s together.”

“That fits them really well,” Iwaizumi comments as he takes a sip of his butterbeer. “I heard quite a few people are considering working in Hogsmeade.”

“Really? Who else is there?”

“I think Shimuzu-san’s planning on working at Spintwitches Sporting Needs and Tendou wants to work at Honeydukes.”

“Maybe I can get a discount at Honeydukes from Tendou,” Oikawa wonders out loud.

“And you’d also risk running into Ushijima,” Iwaizumi tells him. “He said that he’s visiting Tendou every week.”

The Slytherin makes a sour face at the mention of Ushijima and downs almost a quarter of his butterbeer in one gulp. Iwaizumi, who’s preoccupied with gazing up at the sky, misses how Oikawa bends his head down in thought and clenches his fists.

“Iwa-chan.” Oikawa puts down his bottle of butterbeer, expression sobering up. “I have something to tell you.”

“Hmm?” the Gryffindor hums absent-mindedly, and looks down at their hands, where his pinky taps against Oikawa’s.

“I— I got a letter yesterday, from a good team in Argentina,” Oikawa says solemnly as Iwaizumi’s pinky freezes against his. He closes his eyes, thinking about how much harder it is to say this out loud to Iwaizumi instead of the dormitory mirror. When the other boy doesn’t respond, Oikawa keeps going. “They’re interested in recruiting me. It’s a few months of training, and if I perform well, I might even have a chance at making the national team.”

Iwaizumi keeps his head angled away, staring out at the massive expanse of darkness. Something in his heart aches, a droplet of melancholy that spreads across his body. He hears the hope and excitement in Oikawa’s voice despite the Slytherin’s efforts to suppress them, and immediately knows what he has to say.

“You should go.”

It’s not easy saying these three words, but Iwaizumi knows that Oikawa’s life is heading in a direction that’ll unlock his full potential and allow him to rule in the Quidditch world. All he hopes for is that he’ll be there when it happens.

“Really?” Iwaizumi feels Oikawa’s eyes on him, searching for the reassurance he needs. The Gryffindor finally turns his head to meet his boyfriend’s gaze, suddenly brought back to the very first eye contact they ever made, way back in Potions class of first year when Oikawa was nothing more than a ball of arrogance that got on Iwaizumi’s nerves in every single way.

“Of course,” the Gryffindor states truthfully, then looks down as he threads their fingers together. “This is something you’ve wanted since forever, so I want you to go follow your dreams.”

“And you should too,” Oikawa replies simply, squeezing the other boy’s hand. “I’m sorry we won’t get to live together. You’ll still be with me though, right?”

Iwaizumi detects the underlying vulnerability and apprehension in Oikawa’s tone, so he reaches out to cup the other’s cheek and leans in to kiss him lightly. “Of course. I’ll come to your games if I’m free and still make you milkbread.”

“And we’ll visit each other often?”

“Sure. Floo powder’s convenient.” Iwaizumi catches Oikawa’s gaze again. “You don’t have to worry, okay? I want to stay together.”

“Always?”

Iwaizumi admires the reflection of the wondrous stars in Oikawa’s eyes, remembering the long way they’ve come since their petty pranks.

“Always. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading & kudos and comments are appreciated!
> 
> [Tumblr](https://numberonemilkbread.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/numberonemilkb2)


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